[Chris Byler]

Originally posted by Wendigo:

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Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
Thaumaturgs are not that expensive, which is what the original poster was referring to for use as a communicant.

I thought so. Yet I do not consider them expensive as an absolute value, I consider them expensive related to their use & related to comparable mages.

Compare the cost of the following alternate communion slaves:
Thaumaturg 130, vaetti hag 55, seithkona 90, theurg communicant 50, theurg acolyte 90, starchild 85, shaman 110.

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You neglect to mention that only the thaumaturg, communicant and acolyte are sacred. Yes, we all know Pythium has too good communion slaves too cheap, on top of all their other powerful stuff. But Broken Empire Ermor is pretty well up there if you are looking at upkeep (only the vaetti hag beats it of the non-Pythium units you listed).

BTW, you are neglecting communion/sabbath interoperation: Mictlan priests and warlock apprentices can also be used as communion slaves, and both of them are sacred too.

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I think you overrate the danger of magic duel, as even in DOM 1 an astral 3 mage had a (3+1d6)/(5+1d6) chance of beating an astral 5 mage in a duel.

Yet, who would you put your money on?

In my Dom I experience the spell had always a considerable effect in battles between Astral nations. In Dom II it is weaker (ties kill both), but still strong.

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In Dom I the spell was bugged for a long time and nobody knew. Then it was incorrectly fixed (IIRC) and it took a while to find that out too. It's entirely possible that it was always more feared than its actual effectiveness really justified.

Do you have more chance of killing that enemy astral mage with Magic Duel, or with Soul Slay? Which one will kill *you* if you fail?

It's not just the fact that Broken Empire is one of the weakest Astral nations, it's that combined with:

-The mages being expensive for the amount of 'Astral power' they can field when facing another Astral nation.
-The nation has no alternate mages nor priests, apart from the weak cultist.

Heck, Pythium could use 150 gold Astral2 Theurgs to Magic duel 340 gold Grand Thaumaturgs on equal terms....

Yes, Pythium is too good, especially in astral and communions. But there are 15 other nations you will face that AREN'T PYTHIUM. Just because something doesn't work against Pythium doesn't mean it doesn't work in general.

Marignon is nasty to face too, but for other reasons.