[shatner]

While this is mentioned in the guide, one thing I had to realize for myself was how an 8+ communion-slave communion is exponentially better than a 4-7 communion-slave communion. I have seen the difference and it is staggering; something which I want to emphasize here.


While most people would think the point of an 8+ communion is to get the masters a +3 in all their paths, the real advantage is that all the slaves are treated as though they have a +3 in all their paths for the purpose of determining their fatigue from the masters' castings.

For example, if you have 4x A1S1 masters spamming Thunder Strike (A3, evoc 4, 50 fatigue) and 8x A1S1 slaves, each slave is treated as having A4 for determining their fatigue from each of the masters' castings. Each master generates 25 fatigue (50/2 because their air magic is one level higher than is needed) which is divided evenly between the 8 slaves (so roughly 3 fatigue each). Also, each slave receives fatigue as though they had cast the spell (also 25 since they are each considered an A4), again divided by the number of slaves (once again, roughly 3 fatigue each). Therefore 4 masters spamming an expensive but potent air evocation will cause roughly (3+3)*4 = 24 fatigue per slave per round... which the slaves can endure for 8-9 rounds before they start suffering damage from fatigue > 200.

Now, assume you have the same scenario but only 2 masters and 7 slaves. Each master is an A3 generating the full 50 fatigue, which turns into roughly 7 fatigue given to each slave. Each slave also receives fatigue as though they had cast the spell getting them another 7 per slave per casting. That's (7+7)*2 = 28 fatigue per slave per round... which the slaves can endure for 7-8 rounds before they break 200 fatigue.

In the 8 slave example you had a 2-1 slave-to-master ratio which allowed for 4 heightened-damage Thunder Strikes (an A4 strike does more damage than an A3) per round for 8-9 rounds. In the 7 slave example allowed for 7-8 rounds of 2 lesser-damaging thunder strikes even though the communion had better than a 3-1 slave-to-master ratio.



With a little proper care, you can get a LOT of mileage out of a communion. Don't skimp on communion slaves if you don't have to. Also, giving them path boosts cast by one or more of the communion masters will get you another order of magnitude improvement in their performance. These are spells like power of the spheres, storm power, phoenix power, earth power (which also grants sweet, sweet reinvig-4) and strength of gaia (which also gives your slaves +4 strength, barkskin and regen... a fine suite of buffs).