If a unit has negative Might (e.g., -3 Might) and then receives a positive Might buff (e.g., +2 Might), does it end up with -1 Might or 2 Might?

Question

Accepted Answer

The unit's actual Might becomes -1 (because -3 + 2 = -1). However, whenever the game references that Might (for spells/abilities or summing Might for combat), it is treated as 0.[143.2.b] [143.2.b.1]

The unit's stored/actual Might is -1 after the +2 buff (calculated using the actual values). But for any game reference that reads or uses the unit's Might (including summing Might for combat or determining lethal damage), treat it as 0.[143.2.b.1] [143.2.b] If a later effect raises the actual value to ≥5, it would then “become Mighty” only when it changes from <5 to ≥5.[709] [710]

Start with the unit's actual Might value: -3. Apply the +2 Might buff to the actual value: -3 + 2 = -1. Effects that calculate increases/decreases use the actual value, so the actual stored Might is now -1.[143.2.b.1] Whenever the game needs to reference that unit's Might (e.g., spells/abilities reading Might, or summing Might for combat damage assignment), treat the Might as 0 because it is less than 0.[143.2.b] If a later effect changes the actual Might from below 5 to 5 or greater, the unit 'becomes Mighty' at that moment per the usual rule for checking Might thresholds.[709] [710]

If the buff were larger and raised the actual Might to a non-negative number (for example -3 + 5 = 2), the actual Might becomes 2 and is referenced as 2 by the game (only negative values are treated as 0).[143.2.b.1] [143.2.b] If an effect checks whether the unit "becomes Mighty," that only happens if the actual Might crosses from less than 5 to 5 or greater (so a change from -1 to 5 would trigger "becomes Mighty").[709] [710] If an effect doubles or otherwise multiplies Might (for example Dominus), the multiplication uses the actual stored value (so doubling a negative actual Might stays negative), and the result is then subject to the "treated as 0 when referenced" rule if still negative.[143.2.b.1] [143.2.b]

Compute Might changes using the unit's actual numeric Might value. Effects that add or subtract Might operate on that actual value (so -3 + 2 = -1).[143.2.b.1] However, whenever the game later needs to read or use that unit's Might (for spells/abilities or for summing Might in combat damage assignment), the Might is treated as 0 if the actual value is less than 0.[143.2.b] Therefore in your example the unit's stored/actual Might is -1 after the +2 buff, but for all game references to that unit's Might it counts as 0. If a subsequent effect raises the actual Might from below 5 to 5 or greater, the unit becomes Mighty at that moment per the normal Might-evaluation rules.[709] [710]