Arrows vs shields in dom2 and dom3

[Maltrease]

Nice analysis. Thanks for laying it out like this.

Does any of this apply with "bolt" magic?

I did some test with the wand that shoots firebolts and it seemed like it would land in the middle of a group of units and not do any damage. This was a 22AP attack vs medium infantry!

I thought I remembered from Dom2, that a magical attack that landed in the correct square would always hit a unit (unlike an arrow). It seems like lighting bolts works correctly. Is it possible that a spell from an item is treated differently.