Olden Era Schism Guide — Abyssal Communion, Summoning Rites, Heroes, Build Order and Laws

Schism is the faction most guides put last and most strong players respect, because it punishes everything the opponent wants to do. The game's description:

"A splinter faction of Alvar, this group has delved into the Depths of Water using ancient Vori rites. They possess the power to deny their opponents' abilities and magic while summoning ever‑growing hordes of monstrous creatures to overwhelm their foes."

Deny their opponents' abilities and magic: the Concubus line stops creature abilities and the enemy hero's abilities, the Arbitrator line locks the enemy's spellbook and drags their stacks around, and two 50-point laws take the enemy's Focus and a point of Speed and Initiative off every stack they own. Ever-growing hordes: four of the seven lines carry a Summoning Rite that raises a new, permanent stack from a friendly corpse once a battle, and Abyssal Communion makes every stack bigger for each fight the hero has won that day. Schism's early game is the hardest in the game; its late game is a wall of magic-immune horrors that cannot be debuffed, silenced or outcast.

This guide covers the current build (game build 26428102, 4 November 2026: the 0.82.06 update of 29 October, which re-priced every Schism creature, gave the Concubi Seduction, put an Initiative aura on the Votary and a Speed aura on the Mat'ha, and turned Battle Magic into a trade, and the two hotfixes after it, which put the Resource Riches laws back to their old prices). Numbers are the game's, from the Schism faction page; the sources are listed at the end. Schism is the rarest pick on both faction ladders, so its win rate on the faction stats takes longest to become reliable — check the sample before you trust the percentage.

The faction skill: Abyssal Communion

Abyssal Communion, in the game's words:

"After each battle victory, the hero increases their Communion level by 1 (up to a max. of 3). Each level increases the number of friendly units by 2.5% until the end of the battle. Each morning, all heroes' Communion level is halved."

Advanced raises the cap to 4, Expert to 5. At level 5 every stack enters the fight 12.5% bigger — temporary units that vanish when the battle ends, but that fight, absorb and die like the real ones. Patch #11 (July 2026) nerfed the percentages and extended the bonus to all creatures, which is the version above; the rule since is simply: always max it.

Two consequences shape the day. First, the order of fights matters: the easy fight goes first to build the level, the hard fight last to use it. Second, the morning halves it, so a hero at level 4 wakes at 2; the 30-point law The Abyss Stares Back ("your Schism heroes start each day with maximum Communion level") removes the whole problem, and Dhüvri's specialisation ("+1 Communion level after a victory and +1 maximum Communion level for every 8 hero level(s)") speeds it up.

Perks: at Advanced, Comprehensible Depths (+1 maximum level) or Call of the Void ("each morning, before the Communion level is halved, restores 2 mana per Communion level"). At Expert, Abyssopelagial — "each victory in battle increases the Communion level by an additional 1" — reaches the cap in half the fights; Black Ice makes enemy spells cost +1 mana per active level; Celestial Abyss adds 0.5% units per level.

The Summoning Rites

Four lines — Ra'Shoth (tier 1), Grand Shoth (tier 4), Abyssal Envoy (tier 7) and their upgrades — carry a Summoning Rite: "Once per battle, summons a stack of [this creature] in place of a friendly corpse. The summon has 50% HP of the corpse's original stack and no more than [current amount of summoners] units. These creatures are permanent and remain after the battle."

Read the last sentence twice: permanent. A stack of 30 Cultists that dies becomes, after the Rite, a new stack of Ra'Shoth you keep, capped by how many Ra'Shoth you have. Use the Rite on the Grand Shoths rather than the Ra'Shoth where you can, because a tier‑4 stack raised from a corpse is worth far more than a tier‑1 one. And do not stand on corpses: that blocks summoning, because the Rite needs the corpse's hex free. The Call of the Deep law adds +10%, +20% then +30% units to every summon.

The roster, tier by tier

Growth and price are the base creature's. The 0.82.06 update cut the Ra'Shoth, Cultists, Grand Shoths and Arbitrators in price and raised the Aga'Shoth Riders and Concubi; the Envoys are unchanged and their upgrades 100 gold cheaper.

Tier 1: Ra'Shoth

70 gold, growth 20, 10 HP, flying, flat 3 damage, and the Rite. The Stinging Ra'Shoth (90 gold) is a shooter with Attack and Defense 6 — a point more of each since 0.82.06 — and the unit the whole army is built around: a main stack of about 60 at the start, 80 in week 1, 120 in the mid-game and 200 late. A 200-stack of 3-damage shooters that get 10% of the hero's Attack and Spell Power through Unfrozen Strength I is the faction's main damage. The Ferocious Ra'Shoth is a Speed 6 melee with Sweeping Strike. Stinging, always; Elite Ra'Shoth (+4 then +8 growth, +1 Initiative) is the first law, and since 0.82.06 a Votary stack adds another point of Initiative and a Mat'ha stack a point of Speed (tiers 2 and 3).

Tier 2: Cultist

Long Reach, 15 HP, Attack 4, 4–6 damage, and Glance of the Abyss, a stacking curse that deals pure damage each round — 125 gold since 0.82.06, down from 165. The Binder (Defense 7, Speed 5) adds Abyssal Tendril: half a basic attack as pure damage "and removes 1 of their counterattack charges" — the stack that lets the Grand Shoths hit without being hit back. The Votary (Attack 6, Speed 5) has two area-of-effect gazes that slow or reduce Initiative and, new this patch, Rift Conductor: "Increases Initiative of all friendly Ra’Shoth, Grand Shoth, and Abyssal Envoys by 1." One Votary stack on the field is +1 Initiative on the main stack, the Grand Shoths and the Envoys — the three lines with a Rite — which makes it the default upgrade now; take Binders when the Shoths need the counterattack strip, and in the Spell Storm build, which uses them to feed Concentration to the hero. Cultists are an off stack of 20–40, spent for one-shots in week 2 rather than kept as a main; the exception is the Votary stack, which stays at the back for its aura.

Tier 3: Aga'Shoth Rider

25 HP and 6–8 damage since 0.82.06 (20 HP and 5–7 before), at 255 gold instead of 195; Plow Through — "reduces terrain penalties by 50% for the hero" — which on a snow-and-desert map is a movement upgrade just for owning one, Piercing Cold ("each attack or counterattack applies a negative effect that makes the target take +50% Magic Damage") and Icy Breath, an extra pure-damage attack. The Tamer is the fighting upgrade: Attack and Defense 12 (8 before this patch), Initiative 9 and Speed 7. The Mat'ha keeps the base 7 and 7, adds +20 pure damage per hit and an area Icy Spikes, and since 0.82.06 carries Raid: "Increases Speed of all friendly Ra’Shoth, Grand Shoth, and Abyssal Envoys by 1." A caster Schism wants one Rider stack for Piercing Cold on the Chain Lightning target; every Schism now wants one Mat'ha stack for Raid, which is the small stack this guide used to give to the Tamer. Skip the Riders in the opening — the Stables and the Riders are both dearer than they were — and buy that one stack later.

Tier 4: Grand Shoth

50 HP, 10–12 damage, Speed 6, teleporting, Rite, and Frost: "when this creature attacks, the target doesn't generate Focus". The Unspeakable Shoth (600 gold, Speed 8) gets Double Strike; the Unthinkable Shoth (Initiative 11, Speed 7 — 0.82.06 took two Initiative off it and gave it a point of Speed) gets Black Ice Shard, a full attack as pure damage. This is the initiative stack — 10 in the mid-game, 25 late — the one that kites, that finishes, and that the Rite is saved for; a Votary's Rift Conductor and a Mat'ha's Raid add a point of Initiative and a point of Speed to it. The Eye Collective starts with two stacks of them.

Tier 5: Concubus

A shooter with Nimbleness ("can perform Ranged attacks even while adjacent to an enemy"), Earn Your Magic, Dear (enemy hero's spells cost +1 mana), Handcuffs: "prevents target enemy creature from using active abilities" for two rounds — and, since 0.82.06 and on all three, Seduction: "This creature always takes minimum Damage." 630 gold now (580 before), 60 HP, 16–20 damage. The Mistress of Chains (Attack 19) raises the tax to +3 mana, generates 3 Focus Points whenever she deals damage, and adds Hourglass: "prevents the enemy hero from using active abilities until the end of the round" — no Heroic Strike, no Stance, no Summon Swarm. The Bewitcher has Defense 18 now, Flog Idle Mind (66 pure damage per Focus Charge), Bewitch into Passivity, which stops every enemy gaining Focus until the end of next round, and a new passive, Ceaseless Suffering: "Basic attacks of this creature deal +22 Pure Damage per Focus Charge of its army" (the patch notes call the new passive "Flog Idle Mind", which is the name of the active; the files say Ceaseless Suffering). Mistress of Chains is the standard, and Concubi are the second main stack: about 5, then 15, then 35 — a stack that, with Seduction, every enemy hits for its minimum roll.

Tier 6: Arbitrator

75 HP, 18–24 damage, Attack 21, Defense 22, and 1,100 gold since 0.82.06 (1,200 before). The shooter that wants to be far away: Paradoxical Shots — "Ranged penalties are reversed for this creature. Attacks deal +10% Damage per hex (up to a maximum of +50%) if the target is more than 3 hexes away" — with +20 maximum mana for the hero and two Commands that move a friendly or an enemy stack up to four hexes. The Rift Arbitrator (Attack 21, Defense 29, Initiative 10 — the patch took five Attack off it) adds Disgorge Storm: 25 pure damage to all enemies and −1 Speed and Initiative. The Bloated Arbitrator (Attack 26, 22–28 damage) adds Slimy Touch and Frozen Pages: "prevents the enemy hero from using the Spellbook until the end of the round". Against a Warlock or a Necromancer, the Bloated Arbitrator is a round of silence on demand; otherwise the Rift's storm. It is the exception to waiting for initiative: shoot from range, do not wait.

Tier 7: Abyssal Envoy

250 HP, 40–60 damage, Absolute Resistance ("immune to all Magic Damage"), the Rite, and Will of the Abyss: "enables this creature to take 1 more turn(s) immediately after its first turn." The Abyssal Overseer (4,100 gold + 2 Mercury; Attack and Defense 40) gets Area Strike and Moment of Insanity (an enemy attacks a random target). The Abyssal Executor (Attack 35, flat 60 damage, Initiative 10, Speed 7) gets Control Mind: "target enemy creature loses all its possible turns and passes." The Executor removes the enemy's best stack from a round; the Overseer hits three at once. Executor in PvP.

Heroes worth drafting

The might class is the Oathkeeper (Attack 3, Defense 1, Spell Power 1, Knowledge 2), the magic class the Riftspeaker (Attack 1, Defense 1, Spell Power 3, Knowledge 2). Schism is the one faction where Battle Magic and Summon Avatar are offered to might and magic heroes equally — the game's skill weights say so. Battle Magic used to be close to obligatory for both; since 0.82.06 it is a trade, creature Attack and Defense for the hero's Spell Power and Knowledge minus the hero's own Attack and Defense, which makes it a Riftspeaker's skill and an Oathkeeper's loss (more under Skills). All 18 are on the faction page; the ones below are rated top pick, strong or situational.

Top pick. Fighter: "+10% basic attack Damage, plus another 1% for every 4 hero level(s)", plus melee damage — on a 200-stack of Stinging Ra'Shoth that is the faction's damage multiplied.

Top pick. Heart of Ice: creatures take −10% basic-attack damage, more every four levels. The Ra'Shoth have 10 HP; she is why they survive the fight they win.

Top pick. Three stacks of 12–16 Ra'Shoth and Low Summoning: Ra'Shoth growth +1, Ra'Shoth +1 Speed, +1 Initiative, +20% HP and +1 Attack and Defense every five levels (every three before 0.82.06), while enemy Ra'Shoth lose the same. The Ra'Shoth-main hero.

Strong. Two stacks of 2–3 Grand Shoths beside its Ra'Shoth, and Rift's Envoy grows and buffs Grand Shoths. Two teleporting tier‑4 stacks on day 1, each with a Rite.

Strong. Wayfarer: +5% Movement every eight levels and much better road movement. The Classic pick for reaching the desert first.

Situational, and the centre of the "Spell Storm" build. Spellweaver: "+15% Damage with spells, plus another 5% for every 3 hero level(s). The Damage from the enemy hero's spells is reduced by the same value." Starts with Ice Bolt. Abyssal Communion, Sorcery, Thaumaturgy, Primal Magic, Resistance and Wisdom; Early Start on the Shoths, Chain Lightning on the enemy's shooters.

Abyssal Communion at Advanced on day 1 and True Believer (+1 level per victory, +1 maximum every eight levels): the fastest Communion in the faction.

Chessmaster: +1 hex placement and +1 Initiative every six levels. The hero for the Grand Shoth initiative stack.

The Iron Master, the Concubus specialist, is worth a look since 0.82.06: 3–4 Concubi beside the Ra'Shoth on day 1, Leash of Chains (+1 Concubus growth; Concubi +1 Speed, +1 Initiative, +20% HP and +1 Attack and Defense every five levels), and the new First Aid as his second skill in place of Wisdom (the patch notes say Resistance; the files say Wisdom). With Seduction on the Concubi, situational rather than never.

Avoid: Martyr Tho, whose Alchemist specialisation (+1 Mercury a day) is an economy pick on a faction where economy heroes rate lowest, because scouting is worth more than city building. Take him only on a map with no Mercury.

The first week

Schism's resource is Mercury, and its town has the highest gold pressure of any faction, because the Lesser Summoning Rite (1,000 gold, 1 Gem, 1 Crystal, 3 Mercury), the Disturbing Summoning Rite (2,750 gold, 3 Gems, 3 Crystals, 6 Mercury) and the Eerie Summoning Rite (12,500 gold, 5 Gems, 5 Crystals, 20 Mercury — 0.82.06 took 2,500 gold off it and put 5 Mercury on) want all three rare resources. The Mage Guild stops at level IV. Take at least one Abyssal Remnant gold upgrade early, ideally both.

The opening is more map than town, and it starts with the upgrade nearly every Schism player makes first:

Why the Ra'Shoth come first. Stinging Ra'Shoth are the faction's main damage for the whole game, and Lesser Summoning Rite II is the cheapest dwelling upgrade there is. Every dwelling upgrade costs Alchemical Dust as well as gold, and the map gives little of it — 8 to 12 a pile, 20 to 40 from an Alchemical Storage once a week, more for Schism from destroyed artifacts through Inevitable Destruction — so the upgrades go in this order:

• Ra'Shoth to Stinging Ra'Shoth (Lesser Summoning Rite II, 10 Dust), on day 1.
• Cultists to Votaries, or Binders (Cultist Spire II: 1,750 gold, 5 Wood, 5 Ore, 20 Dust), on days 4–5 with the next 20 Dust.
• Aga'Shoth Riders (Stables II, 30 Dust), only once a Rider stack is in the army.

A building-only route — Aga'Shoth Stables, Abyssal Remnant II and III, Mage Guild, Disturbing Summoning Rite, House of Chains, Bloated Mansion — has the same dwellings, with the Arbitrators' Bloated Mansion (5,750 gold, 5 Wood, 5 Ore, 5 Mercury) on day 7 instead of the Observatory levels. Choose by map: a rich map pays for the Mansion; a poor one needs the Marketplace.

On the map: take experience from chests, and gold only when it unblocks an economy or creature building; loot Mercury first; take the easy and normal fights early to build Communion stacks, and risk the fights against shooters only once Communion is up; never trade the main stack. The Generational Wisdom law (+10% then +20% XP) exists because the hero's level is both the Communion cap (through Dhüvri and the perks) and the Unfrozen Strength bonus.

Laws, in priority order

Full text on the laws page. Schism's law set has a line nobody else has: Unfrozen Strength I–VII (2 Seals each, one per tier): "Tier‑N friendly creatures gain 10% of their hero's Attack and Spell Power as Attack, 10% of their Defense and Knowledge as Defense." With Battle Magic converting Spell Power and Knowledge into creature stats as well, a Riftspeaker's Spell Power and Knowledge reach every stack twice — and the law, unlike Battle Magic since 0.82.06, takes nothing back for the hero's Attack and Defense. The patch also re-costed the three Resource Riches laws to 2/3/4 Seals (the 0.82.08 hotfix put them back to 1/2/3), rewrote the Elite Cultists, Elite Aga'Shoth Riders and Elite Concubi laws, and Frostbite (6 mana a round off enemy heroes) is no longer among the laws on offer.

From the start (0 points).

• Elite Ra'Shoth (3/2): "Ra’Shoth growth in your cities increases by 4. They gain 1 Initiative", then +8 growth — a must-have.
• Unfrozen Strength I (2): the Ra'Shoth main stack gets the hero's stats.
• Depths of Mind (2/2/2): "Your Schism heroes restore +5% mana each morning", to +15%.
• Inevitable Destruction (2/2/2): +10%, +20%, +30% Alchemical Dust from destroying artifacts — the Spell Storm build takes it first, other builds later.
• Resource Riches I (1 Seal): 2,500 gold, 5 Wood, 5 Ore, once — when the gold is short, which on Schism it is.

At 5 points.

• Elite Cultists (3): +4 growth and, since 0.82.06, +5 HP instead of +1 damage — a 20-HP Votary stack is one that lives to keep its aura up.
• Generational Wisdom (4/4): +10% then +20% XP — "highly recommended".
• Unfrozen Strength II and III (2 each) once Cultists and Riders are in the army.
• Elite Aga'Shoth Riders (3): +2 growth, +2 Damage (it gave HP before 0.82.06) — only if the Riders are a fighting Tamer stack rather than the Mat'ha aura.
• Ice Power (2/2/2): +1, +2, +3 Spell Power, for casters.
• Tax Collectors (2/2) and Mining: Mercury (2/2) as the map demands.

At 15 points.

• Elite Grand Shoth (3/2): "Grand Shoth growth in your cities increases by 2. They gain 1 Speed", then +4 growth.
• Call of the Deep (2/2/2): summons +10%, +20%, +30% units — every Rite and every spell summon.
• Cold Touch (4/4): "All effects applied by your heroes and friendly creatures last 1 additional round(s)", then 2 — Handcuffs for three rounds, Piercing Cold for three.
• Unfrozen Strength IV.
• Otherworldly Magic (3): Arcane spells +1 level.

At 30 points.

• The Abyss Stares Back (4): start every day at maximum Communion.
• Absolute Zero (3): "The cooldowns of all the battle spells of enemy heroes are increased by 1 round(s)" — pair it with Thaumaturgy.
• Planar Explorers (3/3/3): 500, 1,000, 1,500 Astrology Points a day, for the Second Wind–Shadowflight–Dimension Door path.
• Elite Concubi (3): +1 growth and +6 Attack and Defense (4 before 0.82.06) — the second main stack's law, and better than it was; Elite Arbitrators (3): +1 growth, +4 Damage.
• Cold Shoulder (6): the town's Involuntary Summons (5,000 gold, 3 Gems, 3 Crystals, 3 Mercury) twice a week — a building that, per the patch notes, now needs the Great Library (5,000 gold) rather than the Mage Guild.

At 50 points.

• Ice Storms (5): "All enemy creatures lose 1 Speed and Initiative." Arguably the strongest law in the game; with the Rift Arbitrator's storm and the Hive Mother's Promise of Love it is the only permanent, undispellable version of that effect anyone has.
• Mind Freeze (4): "Each round of battle, the enemy loses 1 Focus Charge(s)" — Grove's and Hive's abilities stop.
• The World is Ours (6): every terrain is native.
• Elite Abyssal Envoys (3/2): +1 then +2 growth, +2 Speed and Initiative.

Skills and spells

Skills by value, which the data supports — with one ranking to re-argue. Battle Magic was a free stat line; since 0.82.06 friendly creatures gain 20/30/40% of the hero's Spell Power and Knowledge as Attack and Defense "but decrease by 20% of the hero's Attack and Defense" (30% and 40% at the higher ranks). For a Riftspeaker, who starts at Spell Power 3 and Attack 1 and levels into magic, that is still the best skill in the faction, and the Expert perks Battle Mage's Authority (+10% of Spell Power as Attack, doubled with Sorcery — the notes call the Authority perks unchanged, the files cut this one from 15%) and Mage Protector's Authority (+10% of Knowledge as Defense, doubled with Resistance) are gains with no penalty attached. For an Oathkeeper it hands back the Attack he levels, so Nihil, Blackhorn and Matastala take it only on a casting statline. So: Battle Magic for Riftspeakers, Thaumaturgy, Offense and Defense at the top; the new First Aid — "after winning a battle, surviving friendly stacks revive 20% of the units lost during that battle", 30% and 40% at the higher ranks — good for every Schism hero, because the units it gives back are Ra'Shoth you did not want to trade; Battlecraft (halved to +10/15/20% when waiting or skipping, so lower than it was), Sorcery (+20/25/30% Magic Damage, down from 40% at Expert), Logistics, Nightshade, Primal, Arcane and Summon Avatar good; Combat, Insight, Tactics, Leadership and Luck situational; Siegecraft, Diplomacy and Economy never. A level-up can be postponed, and the University, Witch Hut, Hive and Four Scholars Shrine on the map can fix a bad draft.

The Astrology path every Schism player runs: Second Wind first — 35 Movement points once a day at its first two levels, 50 at the third and 80 at the fourth (0.82.06 replaced the second daily cast at maximum with a bigger single one, so the top level is still worth reaching); then Shadowflight (fly until the end of the day — a tier‑2 spell now, with +40% Movement cost over obstacles until its third level); then Dimension Door (12 squares at the higher levels); Town Portal if the Astrology economy allows. The Planar Explorers law is what makes it affordable.

Spells: Early Start on the Shoths, Chain Lightning and Lightning Bolt for a Primal caster, Thick Hide and Carapace on the Ra'Shoth main, Armageddon late — the Envoys are immune to it.

Fighting with Schism

Against neutrals. Never trade the main stack. The Cultists are spent, the Ra'Shoth are not. Kite with the Grand Shoths; shoot with the Ra'Shoth; use the Rite on the Shoths. Order the day's fights easy to hard so Communion is highest where it matters.

Against players. "Most fights favour waiting for initiative, with Arbitrator as the main exception." Handcuffs on the enemy's ability stack and Hourglass on their hero in round one; Frozen Pages on a caster's big round; Control Mind on the stack that would otherwise win the fight. Binders, if you took them, strip counterattacks before the Shoths go in; the Envoy takes its second turn immediately. Schism's denial is cumulative: a Mistress of Chains, a Bloated Arbitrator and the Ice Storms and Mind Freeze laws together leave an opponent with no abilities, no spellbook, no Focus, one less Initiative and +3 mana on every spell.

Against Hive, Mind Freeze and Bewitch into Passivity stop the eggs and the Larvae; against Dungeon, Hourglass takes the Stance away and Control Mind the Dancers; against Temple, Frozen Pages on the Cleric's buff round and the Envoys' immunity against the Excommunicators' magic damage.

Matchups. Schism's record against each faction, by template and rating bracket, is on the Single Hero faction stats and the Classic faction stats. Watch the sample size: the rarest faction's numbers move the most.

Common mistakes

1. Trading the Ra'Shoth main stack early. A 10-HP shooter stack is the whole mid-game; the Cultists are the ones to spend.
2. Standing on corpses. The Rite needs the hex; the summoned stack is permanent and the lost one is not.
3. Using the Rite on the Ra'Shoth when a Grand Shoth corpse is available. The tier‑4 Rite is worth four times as much.
4. Fighting the hard fight first. Communion is built by the easy ones.
5. Taking Economy, Diplomacy or Siegecraft. The guide that knows the faction best rates all three as never.
6. Judging Schism by the ladder percentage before the sample is there. Grey numbers are a hint, not a verdict; the tier list prints the sample under every row.

Where this comes from

Numbers and ability text are from the game files for build 26428102 (4 November 2026, the 0.82.08 hotfix), as published in the game database and on the Schism page; Unfrozen's 0.82.06 patch notes supply the reasons behind the changes and the Involuntary Summons prerequisite, which the files do not show. The strategy draws on Paradrew's Blackhorn "Spell Storm" build (May 2026), KeenGamer's week‑1 build-order, best-heroes and tier-list guides, the Patch #11 Communion rework notes, and the Steam community's Schism threads. Schism's standing is on the tier list, recomputed every day.

Related: Which faction should you play? · How the ranked ladder works · Glossary