Can a Mage be Both Communion Slave *and* Master?

[AlgaeNymph]

I have 8+ mages, each of whom cast both Communion Master and Communion Slave. In such a situation, will I then have 8+ mages each benefiting from Communion Master? I should think so, but I tried that using grand thaumaturges and only one of the group cast spells every round.

[Ironhawk]

Don't believe so, no.

[Shovah32]

Only one of the group casts spells every round - that is normal. When any master in a communion casts a spell, other masters are not affected but no slaves may cast spells in that turn. If all mages are both slaves and masters, only the first will be able to cast, then the rest will be stopped by the slaves inability to cast after a master.
I can't remember if slaves can cast before a master(slaves scripted to be first in the casting order) but I have a feeling that they can't.

[Jazzepi]

Shovah32 said:
Only one of the group casts spells every round - that is normal. When any master in a communion casts a spell, other masters are not affected but no slaves may cast spells in that turn. If all mages are both slaves and masters, only the first will be able to cast, then the rest will be stopped by the slaves inability to cast after a master.
I can't remember if slaves can cast before a master(slaves scripted to be first in the casting order) but I have a feeling that they can't.

If your combat order looks like this

SLAVE A
SLAVE B
MASTER C
SLAVE D

Then slave A/B will be able to freely cast spells each round. Master C will then cast a spell. And slave D will sit around soaking up fatigue and looking stupid.

Jazzepi

[AlgaeNymph]

Jazzepi said:
If your combat order looks like this

SLAVE A
SLAVE B
MASTER C
SLAVE D

Then slave A/B will be able to freely cast spells each round. Master C will then cast a spell. And slave D will sit around soaking up fatigue and looking stupid.

What happens if slave A is also a master?

[otthegreat]

How do you set up a combat order? I mean I always thought that the order different mages cast spells in is random, is there a way to customize it?

[Jazzepi]

The order that your commanders (mages) act is determined by a hidden number called their Unit ID. This is a unique number that each unit has to keep track of them in the game. Apparently they're also recycled after a unit dies.

What's more important is that you can not see this ID number, so the only way to tell which units will act first in combat is to have all those units in a single province, go to army setup, and look at the order in which they appear. This is the order they will act during a battle.

The problem with this is that if you have two armies that you want to merge in a large fight, both with communion masters/slaves in them, it's impossible to tell which order they'll act in. In that case, you can not rely on your communion slaves for combat casting as the order that they act in is unpredictable.

Jazzepi

[Jazzepi]

DryaUnda said:

What happens if slave A is also a master?

If A is a master then B/D will be unable to cast spells, but C will be just fine. Masters never interfere with each other.

Jazzepi

[Sombre]

What if you set A and B to hold for one turn, then cast slave?

Will they still cast spells each round because they are before the master, or not?

[Jazzepi]

Sombre said:
What if you set A and B to hold for one turn, then cast slave?

Will they still cast spells each round because they are before the master, or not?

AFAIK the only thing that matters is not /when/ a particular unit becomes a master or a slave, only that ~in a given turn~ if a slave comes before a master in turn order, he will be able to cast.

So I'm 99% certain that a slave that becomes a slave from a matrix before the battle, or one becoming a slave on turn one, or on turn 20, will all be the same way. The next turn after they become a slave, and every turn after that, all that matters is that they come before whatever communion masters you might have.

Jazzepi