Pythium & Communicants

[Huzurdaddi]

So I've been playing a little Pythium, since I loved them in Dom2. The were not top of the heap in Dom2, but they were very solid due to the serious power of communion (and the principe).

However, I am having great difficulty using communicants in anything but the late game due to recruiting limitations. Pythium has top tier castles and they cost top dollar. This allows for great resources for recruiting of their excellent (if expensive) infantry. However it makes it very difficult to create large numbers of communicants.

Do most people simply wait until the late game (turn 36+) until they start pumping out the communicants or am I missing something?

[Ironhawk]

In the games I've played with them I never ended up producing many Communicants unless I was completely cash strapped. The Theurgs are better communion slaves and they can research (and fight if need be). Its just too expensive to dedicate a fort to the production of communicants.

[Humakty]

Till you have 4+ forts, don't produce any, it would hamper your research, needed to have nice evo spells (5 is nice), + the inevitable site searching spells.

Practically speaking, communicants are better slaves than the theurgs, because of their cost, and also because they don't hit the deadly fatigue limit too often(hold*5 then stay or attack).

4 to 5 of them with two senior theurgs will kick *** to pretty much anything, provided you have an army to soak the inevitable attacks of your 'so barbaric' ennemies.

[Cor2]

IIRC communicants get bonuses to comminions, meaning they take less fatigue than other slaves. That makes them more valuable.

[thejeff]

They are more valuable than they look, but they're only useful in big communion driven battles.

If you recruit theurgs instead, they can research, site search, cast, forge, and still be ready to form communions when needed.

It's also not clear exactly how much of a bonus communicants get in communions. It's been hashed out here a few times, but I still can't keep it straight.

[Huzurdaddi]

While they have some bonus (I should run some tests) they are still very expensive wrt. castle time.

Humakty, using a handful like you suggest will give you an advantage in one combat, but almost certianly dooms the communicants to death. I find that a 4:1 ratio of communicants to theurgs gives the communicants a good chance of surviving most combats. Although in large fights even this ratio breaks down.

Anyway, it seems that others have also had problems using communicants. Sad, since they are one of Pythium's major weapons. Without communion theurgs are not fearsome casters.

[Humakty]

It's true they tend to die, or get nice afflictions (I currently have some that lost both of their eyes), but this only incitates me more to use communicants, who are expendable.
If there are usefull in one big battle, you've made up their cost !
4 to 1 is a good ratio, but when I need an extra punch, I teleport an arch theurg, too bad if I loose all four of them, they cost nothing.
It's true I tend to have a low research during midgame, but during this period you're almost unstoppable, and if you expand rapidly, you'll have enougth forts to produce many theurgs.
PS : I use usually 4 communicants, as it is sufficient to raise a theurg to 3W 3A 4S