priests

[RadicalTurnip]

I didn't know that only Ryleth got prophets, good to know. I wonder if it's scripted into the nation, or the unit...as in, if I for some strange reason wished for a Ryleth unit, and he became insane, might he declare himself a prophet or not?

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by thejeff

I assume you intend your Soothsayer Master to cast PotS to boost Holy? Are Warrior Sorceresses H2s? I don't remember.

Bah! Apparently my understanding of reverse communions is horribly flawed.

They are H1. It was my understanding (emphasis on was), that Slaves got +1 all paths per power of 2 slaves (2 = +1, 4 = +2, 8 = +3, etc.) including holy. The following test:

1 Priestess (Slave)
3 Mystic (Slave)
1 Mystic (Master)

At this level we should be +2 all which is true for the master, but not for the slaves. None of the slaves cast any spells that were above their basic path level until after I used PoTS which means that something is either different or I'm just stupid.

I'm referencing this guide btw:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=37499

----------------

Now, after I PoTS the priestess will Smite (She's H2), and the slave mystics will cast spells that are under there, now visibly reflected increased spell abilities but won't cast above those. For instance, the boosted 2FS mystic wouldn't cast Falling Fire on turn 2 because he hadn't been hit with PoTS, but would cast it on turn 3.

Did something change or am I just totally wrong about reverse communions?

I usually use Traditional (Forward) communions, but was working on some reverse communion strategies based on the guide above, but it appears to be not be the case either ever or as occurrence of some patch. I've used reverse communions before.. perhaps I just didn't notice something (probably because i usually leave my communions largely unscripted after the communion spell is cast)? There is no way to get an S1 mage to cast Soul Slay as a communion slave as suggested in the guide, and I can't believe the guide was wrong.

Was there a patch I'm not aware of?


Either way, the strategy I put forth is bunk and must be amended. The Warrior Sorceress must be the master of the communion which means switch the strategy to 4 Soothsayer slaves and 1 Warrior Sorceress scripted to cast w/e. She will probably frequently kill slaves in long battles and will need a continuous supply unless you put a bow on her and instruct her to fire after she's done with her script. The slaves will also be much less useful than I had indicated but can cast Paralyze if you add a second master who casts PoTS. Giving someone a Banner of the Northern Star will get the Soul Slay going.

[thejeff]

Slaves get the communion boost only for reducing fatigue from spells cast by the masters.

I think the guide is wrong about Soul Slay, though the rest of the description looks right. The confusion may have come in because you can boost some paths by 2, (PotS, & Summon Earth|Phoenix Power|etc.) And as you suggest, Banner (or Light) of the Northern star will get the slaves up to 3 S, though not 3H.

This is why Mystics make such good reverse communions, they tend to have the paths with easy booster spells. E1 or F1 jumps up to E3, F3 and they all get reinvig from Summon Earth.

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by thejeff

Slaves get the communion boost only for reducing fatigue from spells cast by the masters.

I think the guide is wrong about Soul Slay, though the rest of the description looks right. The confusion may have come in because you can boost some paths by 2, (PotS, & Summon Earth|Phoenix Power|etc.) And as you suggest, Banner (or Light) of the Northern star will get the slaves up to 3 S, though not 3H.

This is why Mystics make such good reverse communions, they tend to have the paths with easy booster spells. E1 or F1 jumps up to E3, F3 and they all get reinvig from Summon Earth.

Which would be why my Reverse Communions of Mystics work so well. It is also, incidentally, the reason I never bother to script them--I find it annoying to have to script 18 different varieties of Mystics and as a lazy person would rather let them do their thing unless I need something super special for a particular battle. Of course, it's laziness, but of course you'd agree that you'd hate to rescript Mystics every time you increased paths to account for any new spells that some of your mystics may be able to cast. Micro-management is not my thing.

Mystics also have a nice tendency to produce my favorite Communion Master: The FWES Mystic who can cast 4 different boosters though never together since Phoenix Power and Water Power are mutually exclusive.