How do you get Level 5 Priests?

Joonie73 · #1 November 13th, 2003, 10:39 PM

Can nations without a level 4 priest, such as Jotunheim, get a level 5 priest and smite? I realize that making a level 4 priest a prophet will make you a smite-using priest. But what about nations like Jotunheim? Are they doomed not to ever get smite?

licker · #2 November 13th, 2003, 10:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joonie73:
Can nations without a level 4 priest, such as Jotunheim, get a level 5 priest and smite? I realize that making a level 4 priest a prophet will make you a smite-using priest. But what about nations like Jotunheim? Are they doomed not to ever get smite?

I believe there is a forgable artifact(s?) that will increase preist level.

Other than that... no.

Taqwus · #3 November 13th, 2003, 10:53 PM

Communion/Sabbath works, if memory serves. However, it requires that your priests either have Astral or Blood, or are carrying the misc magic items that perform the same spells (crystal matrix, slave matrix).

SurvivalistMerc · #4 November 14th, 2003, 01:26 AM

I'm experiencing level 2 priests. I have sermon of courage envy on all priests except my prophet. Interested in the response, though.

Psitticine · #5 November 14th, 2003, 01:50 AM

Priest power levels aren't anywhere as improvable as mage power levels. About all you can do is make a prophet out of your best priest. Many nations won't be able to reach level 5, which is factored in as a minor balancing factor between the various factions.

Joonie73 · #6 November 14th, 2003, 01:51 AM

How does communion/sabbath work? What exactly is it?

Also, can you reach level 5 with it?

Psitticine · #7 November 14th, 2003, 02:38 AM

Communion Master/Slave is a set of Astral spells while Sabboth Master/Slave are the Blood magic equivalents. They work the same way, aside from using different power sources, and can even interlink together.

When mages cast Communion/Sabboth Slave, they become "eligible" to support a mage who casts Communion/Sabboth Master. Any spells cast by the Master have their fatigue costs (before skill level reduction) shared out among the Communion/Sabboth. This leads to a tremendous increase in the amount of battlefield magic the Master can cast.

In addition, every two Communion/Sabboth Slaves also grants the Master a +1 to all his magic levels. This allows the Master to cast more powerful magic and suffer even less fatigue damage.

The drawback is that the Master can continue to "share" his fatigue costs even unto the death of the Slaves. The Slaves can be driven past unconsiousness and begin to take injury instead of additional fatigue, especially since they don't get the same reduction to fatigue that the Master will get from his increased power levels from the Commmunion. The spell-casting AI is good about not going to such lengths unless the situation is dire, however.

Note that there are also items that allow the equivalent of a Communion between item-holders.

I'm not 100% sure if this works with priest levels or not. Unless somebody beats me to it, I'll try to play a test game tomorrow especially to test that out. I don't believe it does boost priest power, but I've not specicially looked before.

Yojinbo · #8 November 14th, 2003, 02:39 AM

I believe the Sword of Justice adds one to priest levels.

Yo

Joonie73 · #9 November 14th, 2003, 02:45 AM

LOL, but it's a unique artifact!

I was thinking of easier ways.

Can someone please explain what communion/sabbath is and how it works?

Quote:

Originally posted by Yojinbo:
I believe the Sword of Justice adds one to priest levels.

Yo

HJ · #10 November 14th, 2003, 03:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Psitticine:
In addition, every two Communion/Sabboth Slaves also grants the Master a +1 to all his magic levels. This allows the Master to cast more powerful magic and suffer even less fatigue damage.

The drawback is that the Master can continue to "share" his fatigue costs even unto the death of the Slaves. The Slaves can be driven past unconsiousness and begin to take injury instead of additional fatigue, especially since they don't get the same reduction to fatigue that the Master will get from his increased power levels from the Commmunion. The spell-casting AI is good about not going to such lengths unless the situation is dire, however.

I never understood how communion works exactly. So, 1 master and 2 slaves get all 1/3 of the listed fatigue if master is casting at his max level, right? And if he has e.g. 3 in astral and casting 2 astral spell, he will get 1/2 of the 1/3 of the regular fatigue, while the slaves will still get 1/3? And what if he uses gems to increase his casting? He gets even more reduced fatigue, while the slaves get the same as if he wasn't using any? And what happens if the slaves are casting their own spells after casting the slave spells? They don't affect the master at all in terms of fatigue, and/or shared benefits, like they would if master casts e.g. personal luck? And you can increase by 1 only the paths you already know, and it doesn't make those you don't know available, right? And what happens when there is more than one master, how is that calculated?

[ November 14, 2003, 01:26: Message edited by: HJ ]