What am I supposed to do with Shamen?

[tinkthank]

I cant figure out the Shamen's niche, and don't really dig his raison d'etre.

It seems the only spells with his name written on them in big, shiny letters is "summon coatl", which I dislike because of its cost.

People have mentioned that he makes an ok c-slave, but with Ctis, I cant really use him as such much, since it is either with a rare random on my marsh/sauromancers, or on another Shaman, and I dont really know what to do with him then; and 110 gold isnt really dirt cheap either (well compared to other slaves out there).

Is he a researcher type? I suppose that would work with some magic scales, considering his sacred upkeep....

So what do YOU use him for? (Especially tips on early- mid game appreciated here)?

Thanks much in advance

[HotNifeThruButr]

He's the best researcher, aside from indies, that you can get your scaly mitts on. And, aside from Couatl, they're good as communion slaves.

Edit: I'd like to add that libraries are very common sites that don't need to be searched.

[ June 20, 2004, 12:23: Message edited by: HotNifeThruButr ]

[Anglachel]

They make great pets.

[Kel]

They aren't as good for C'tis as they are for non-nature nations (when you find indie shamans).

Their sacred attribute makes them somewhat mediocre researchers.

They do shine in two areas.
One is they can commune and make relief/mass protection squads. Of course, I like Miasma the best so that's using 440 gold instead of a 220 gold marshmaster

The other is that they can arcane probe for astral sites and then make some handy 1S items, like AMA and luck ammy (in addition to the arcane probing)

For C'tis, they aren't great but they aren't useless, imo, kind of run of the mill. For nations that can't get access to relief/mass protection, they are highly useful.

- Kel

[ June 20, 2004, 16:45: Message edited by: Kel ]

[Blitz]

They may not seem like much, but believe me I wasn't happy to see him replaced by a FD mage in the new desert tombs. Most of these have been mentioned, but here's my list.

1) mind deul
2) healing light
3) with banner of the northern star and power of the spheres can cast the very good S3 combat spells. (especially nice with miasma and it's water gem income... clams for everybody!)
4) Arcane Probing, Harspex w/ thistle mace
5) can forge luck pendant, antimagic amulet
6) a really nice communion slave
7) C'tis' cheapest researcher

[Endoperez]

Astral is NICE. Even one point. Starshine Skullcap or Crystal coin is enough to let you start making Skullcaps en masse, and you already get Nature-2 mages to get Thistle maces...

I view Couatl as a quaranteed way to give you access to Astral-2 Shamans if everything else fails. It is expensive, but you don't really need more than one or maybe two Couatls: one equipped with Starshine Skullcap and Moonvine Bracelet (it was +Astral, not +Nature, wasn't it?) is very nice Astral 5 if you are after that, and the same equipment with some Nature boosters given to one of your Shamans or Astral Sauromancers/ Marshmasters lets them to forge more Moonvine bracelets. Aand after THAT you have access S3 mages able to cast Acashic Record without need for more Couatls.

Shamans are not something to build a strategy for, but I think C'tis does better with them than without.

[tinkthank]

Thanks!

- Moonvine bracelets give +nature, not +astral

- I cant forge any +astral items with a shaman, however, so that means I need to cast Coatl (expensive, and also level 7 conjuration! ouch, definately not early-mid game for me), or put some astral on my pretender.

I'm a huge fan of starshine skullcaps; I also love astral nations (my favorite is Tien Chi, not really an "astral nation", but as S&A I get astral 2 before too long).
Banner of the Northern Star is of course great -- but I'll be damned if I can get a shaman to make one.

[Endoperez]

Originally posted by tinkthank:
Thanks!

- Moonvine bracelets give +nature, not +astral

Oops... I never remember that right.

- I cant forge any +astral items with a shaman, however, so that means I need to cast Coatl (expensive, and also level 7 conjuration! ouch, definately not early-mid game for me), or put some astral on my pretender.

If you have luck w�th sites you could Empower one of your shamans. 30 pearls vs 40 gems... You would have no natural Astral-3 mage, though. Also, you could wish to be lucky with independents, but as Crystal Amazons are very rare you cannot count on it.

I'm a huge fan of starshine skullcaps; I also love astral nations (my favorite is Tien Chi, not really an "astral nation", but as S&A I get astral 2 before too long).
Banner of the Northern Star is of course great -- but I'll be damned if I can get a shaman to make one.

Empower + Skullcap. As I said before, 30 pearls. Besides, it is faster than researching for Couatl. If you have no Astral income at all you don't need Skullcaps, and if you do you will be able to empower one of the shamans before or later.

Still, it's not an easy way to get even mediocre Astral mages.

[Blitz]

Well your pretender god may be able to forge the needed items, but remember with arcane probing, there's a decent chance of finding some kind of 2-astral mage out there, even if you don't have the SS on your god.

And if you don't have astral on your pretender, I'm betting you have a combat avatar... which means the really important astral items are the pendant and amulet anyway.

[djtool]

I've used them for making ivy crowns and pumping out vine men.