communion mechanics

[shatner]

What the heck, just to really drive this last point home, let's look at a gratuitous communion: 8x A1S1 masters and 8x A1S1 slaves. Assume two of the masters each have a Crystal Matrix (auto-casts communion master on them at the start of battle).

Round 1: 6 of the masters cast Communion Master, 8 slaves cast Communion Slave, the 2nd-to-last caster (with a crystal matrix) casts Power of the Spheres and the last caster (also with a crystal matrix) casts Storm Power. If we only pay attention to their air paths, 6 masters have A4, two masters have A5 and each slave is an A3 but counted as an A6 for communion-fatigue purposes.

Round 2: Each master casts Thunder Strike. 6 are A4s, giving (50/2 )/8=3 fatigue per slave per casting. Two are A5s, giving (50/3)/8=2 fatigue per slave per casting. Each slave is considered an A6 giving them (50/4)/8=1.5 fatigue per slave per casting. That's 3*6 + 2*2 + 1.5*8 = 18 + 4 + 12 = 34 fatigue per slave per turn from 6 A4 and 2 A5 Thunder Strikes per turn. That communion can last for 6 rounds before the slaves start taking damage.

The first example got us 36x A4 Thunder Strikes over the course of 9 rounds before we started damaging slaves. This last example got us 48 Thunder Strikes over the course of 6 rounds, 12 of which were A5 strikes. Not only did it get us more damage, it got us faster damage. With path buffs, we microwaved the battlefield in record time. Without path buffs, that 1-1 master-to-slave ratio would microwaved our slaves even sooner.

[Stagger Lee]

Originally Posted by shatner

What the heck, just to really drive this last point home, let's look at a gratuitous communion: 8x A1S1 masters and 8x A1S1 slaves. Assume two of the masters each have a Crystal Matrix (auto-casts communion master on them at the start of battle).

Round 1: 6 of the masters cast Communion Master, 8 slaves cast Communion Slave, the 2nd-to-last caster (with a crystal matrix) casts Power of the Spheres and the last caster (also with a crystal matrix) casts Storm Power. If we only pay attention to their air paths, 6 masters have A4, two masters have A5 and each slave is an A3 but counted as an A6 for communion-fatigue purposes.

Round 2: Each master casts Thunder Strike. 6 are A4s, giving (50/2 )/8=3 fatigue per slave per casting. Two are A5s, giving (50/3)/8=2 fatigue per slave per casting. Each slave is considered an A6 giving them (50/4)/8=1.5 fatigue per slave per casting. That's 3*6 + 2*2 + 1.5*8 = 18 + 4 + 12 = 34 fatigue per slave per turn from 6 A4 and 2 A5 Thunder Strikes per turn. That communion can last for 6 rounds before the slaves start taking damage.

The first example got us 36x A4 Thunder Strikes over the course of 9 rounds before we started damaging slaves. This last example got us 48 Thunder Strikes over the course of 6 rounds, 12 of which were A5 strikes. Not only did it get us more damage, it got us faster damage. With path buffs, we microwaved the battlefield in record time. Without path buffs, that 1-1 master-to-slave ratio would microwaved our slaves even sooner.

Don't forget about the masters. Fatigue for one spell cast by a master with eight slaves is split nine ways, with each mage's fatigue figured individually. A small five member communion with 4 1E1S mages and 1 1S mage, all enc3, scripted so that 1 of the 1E1S is the master, then 4x Gifts from Heaven (3E1S). The other 4 are slaves doing nothing else.

Turn 1
1E1S casts communion master 23 fatigue (20+3)
4 slaves cast communion slave 23 fatigue (20+3)
Turn 2
1E1S casts Gifts from Heaven (50 fatigue spell/5 members=10+3enc) + 23 = 36 total fatigue
first 3 slaves 36 fatigue (same calculation)
last slave (no E to start) 10*2 + enc*2 or 26 + 23 = 49 total fatigue
Turn 3
master and first 3 slaves +13=49 total fatigue
last slave +26 = 75 total fatigue
Turn 4
master and first 3 slaves - 62 total fatigue
last slave - 101 total fatigue
Turn 5
master and first 3 slaves - 75 total fatigue
last slave - 122 total fatigue (I think units w/over 100 fatigue recover 5pts automatically)

I don't believe the master's level affects the slave's fatigue. Just whether or not he can cast the spell.

[Knai]

Originally Posted by shatner

What the heck, just to really drive this last point home, let's look at a gratuitous communion: 8x A1S1 masters and 8x A1S1 slaves. Assume two of the masters each have a Crystal Matrix (auto-casts communion master on them at the start of battle).

Lets talk gratuitous communion. Every slave receives all buffs cast by any master. Say we are looking at Vanheim or similar, and Air-Earth-Nature (indie mage for the last bit) is in play. One Strength of Gaia and Personal Regeneration later, the slaves are now regenerating both fatigue and health, and can probably last another three turns, which is huge. Outside of a few edge cases, you will burn out eventually (edge case examples: Surround your communion slaves with trolls set to guard commander. Anything with regeneration can work here, but trolls are probably the easiest to come by. Now, have a communion master case Soul Vortex. The slaves will last as long as they need to), and reinvig counts for a lot.

[Stagger Lee]

On the other forum, this was posted recently.

PROVING a Communion Fatigue Formula

I had done some testing a while back, and my simple formula fit my test cases well enough, but I did not do what could be called extensive testing. This formula also explains my test results, where mine fails to explain his.

Oh heck, I usually just ballpark it anyway.

Thanks to theDemon and friends.