Finding an appropriate Communion Slave

[tinkthank]

After reading the various threads I found on the subjects Communion Slave and T'ien Chi, I would like to start this one here with the question in mind:

How can I get a good communion slave for Tien Chi Spring and Autumn?
Empowerment seems way out of the question.
Using a Celestial Master as a slave just seems like such a waste.
Hoping for a nice pick for a Master of the Way might give me 1-3 in two dozen turns, but that doesnt sound like a decent strategy upon which to *rely*.
So I figure: manufacture Matrixes and put them on the Masters of the Dead.
Slave matrixes cost 1E and 1S, Construc 4. So either I will need a pretender to do this or have luck with a Celest Master/Mot5E. Also tough. Or not?
Or research up to Conc 7 and cast Forge, then anyone can forge them?

What other options are open to me?
I just *loooove* the celestial master, for 250 gold he is a dirt cheap multitasker, but I would love to be able to cast those 100+ fatigue spells with him, and I cant do that without some slaves.

Thank you.

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by tinkthank:
How can I get a good communion slave for Tien Chi Spring and Autumn?
Empowerment seems way out of the question.

Right.

Using a Celestial Master as a slave just seems like such a waste.

Agree, although it's still doable when everything else fails.

Hoping for a nice pick for a Master of the Way might give me 1-3 in two dozen turns, but that doesnt sound like a decent strategy upon which to *rely*.

Sabbath slaves act just as communion slaves for communion purposes. Two 2 dozens MotW should give you 6 potential slaves on average, if you do a bit of blood hunting.

So I figure: manufacture Matrixes and put them on the Masters of the Dead.

Doable but expensive, don't rely on it too much. Although having a couple Slave matrixes ready to use would be a good insurance in your case.

Or research up to Conc 7 and cast Forge, then anyone can forge them?

You can't rely on that either.

What other options are open to me?

There are no easy options for nations who lack easy access to a cheap astral or blood mage. One of the most common ways is to rely on lucky placement of independents. Look for amazon provinces above anything else. The Crystal/Garnet priestesses both make good cheap communion/sabbath slaves.

[tinkthank]

Thanks sir.
Why not rely on Forge of Ancients? (Dispell?)
Like your avatar btw.

[General Tacticus]

If you find a library, you can use sages with a random in astral as communion slaves, and let the others carry your research, but it is still no ideal.

Do you really need communion slaves with Tien Ch'i anyway ? Empowerment / magic raising items / reinvigoration items can be enough to cast your battle spells without communion...

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by tinkthank:
Thanks sir.
Why not rely on Forge of Ancients?

Just for the same reason you can't rely too much on MotW for your communion slaves: you don't know beforehand if you'll find enough earth sites to have a chance to cast it.

(Dispell?)

That too, or a stronger Forge of the Ancients from another nation, or having your caster killed.

Like your avatar btw.

Looks like something really went wrong when they took this photograph of myself.

[tinkthank]

Right thanks.

@Tacticus: Yes and no. I want them to be able to cast the 1-gem 100+ fatigue spells (flaming arrows, arrow fend, wind guide) -- they *can* cast these with item-boosts, but a communion will let them cast these and then do other stuff too since they wont go immediately unconcsious.