communion (?)
 

Newbie question: I have seen mentioned in some posts how a communion of mages can perform impressive feats on the battlefield. Unfortunately, I have no idea exactly what this is, how it works, what it does, pros and cons, when it should best be used, etc.

Would anybody know if there is a something of a guide available somewhere that explains the basics that could help me get started? (I did a brief search but couldn't find anything)

thanks in advance

Re: communion (?)
 

The Astral spells Communion Master and Communion Slave. (Also Blood spells Sabbath Master and Slave and the Crystal Matrix items.)

Communion Slaves don't act themselves, but boost the Masters path levels and take his fatigue. They also share any spells he casts on himself, which allows some interesting tactics.

Unlike normal spellcasting, where a caster goes unconscious and stops casting fatigue hits 100, Communion Masters will keep casting after the slaves fall asleep and will often drain them to death (they start taking damage after 200 fatigue).

2 slaves gives a +1 boost to all paths the Master has
every time you double the slaves, you get another +1

Re: communion (?)
 

Is there a thread that competently addresses all the issues associated with communion casting? I'm interested in trying it, but it seems very complex.

Jazzepi

Re: communion (?)
 

Its really not that complicated.

You just need a collection of astral mages. Those you script to cast Communion Slave will be the slaves (Pythium communicants do this automatically). Those that script Communion Master will be a master.

Every Master will have magic paths boosted according to the formula thejeff laid out above. You can have as many Masters as you see fit. But each spell a Master casts will have its fatigue spread across himself and each slave. So if you have 4 slaves and a master casts a 100 fatigue spell, then he will get 20 fatigue, as will each slave.

Points to note about communions:
-Buffs on a Master will also buff all the slaves (Summon Earthpower for the reinvig is great here)
-Since communions require a good deal of mages, they are sometimes vulnerable to being broken when key mages are killed.
-Some attack spells exploit the Master/Slave connection. I think Soul Slay or Magic Duel... cant recall.

Re: communion (?)
 

Communion Master / Phoenix Pyre. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: communion (?)
 

Dont forget air shield/twist fate there, without it theres a good chance of your slaves blowing up in your face.

Re: communion (?)
 

A couple more points:

1) Communion slaves *do* act by themselves if they come in the battle sequence before any communion masters have cast a spell that round. The combat sequence is deterministic, so if you're clever you can do things like have your slaves casting spells while your masters come at the end casting self buffs (which effect all the slaves). If your slaves can cast things which reinvigorate themselves (like drain life) this can be a never ending fountain of nastiness as the master casts big spells and the slaves reinvig themselves.

2) A big risk of communions is that the masters don't consider the fatigue of the slaves when they're casting. This means you can quite easily have your slaves killed by a master spamming completely useless stuff at routing enemies. Nothing quite so frustrating as loosing half your mages winning an easy fight. Consequently communions are usually best for big decisive battles.

3) The buffs conferred on communion slaves remain even if the master leaves the battlefield. This means another use of a communion is to get buffs on SC/thugs who couldn't otherwise get them. Giving a slave matrix to somebody tough, then having a couple master mages cast invulnerability, blood vengence, mistfrom etc. can make for an awesomely powerful SC with very little cost. It's particularly wicked for things which can't usually wear too many items (tarasques, Wyrms, etc).

4) Communion slaves take (significantly) more fatigue when the master casts spells which the slaves don't have the right paths for. Putting the cheapest mages as slaves is not always the best choice.

Re: communion (?)
 

This then brings back my question of having a mage be both a slave & master at the same time. If the order is: #1-7Slaves, #8Slave/Master, #9Master. Then #8 could still cast as a master and be a slave for #9 (& maybe himself too?), right?

In another thread someone mentioned a slave commune unit (with no magic paths) takes less fatigue then 1astral mages. If that's true wouldn't a cheap non-mage with a slave matrix take less fatigue than most typical slave mages (like a 1 astral mage)?

Re: communion (?)
 

Slave matrixes only work if the unit is a mage, as far as I know Pythiums communicants (the unit you mention) are the only special case that can join a communion with no magic paths.

Dunno about being both master & slave, my gut tells me it wouldn't work but I've never tested it. I'm guessing casting master cancels the slave effect and vice versa.

Re: communion (?)
 

If Pythium slave communes take less fatigue with no magic paths then wouldn't having slaves with different paths from the master also be better for less fatigue... as in a master casting earth spells and having the slaves with only say 1 astral and no earth (rather than 1 or 2 earth)?

I don't know either, but IIRC in another thread KO said Solar Brilliance was the only spell he recalled that cancelled another (Darkness).