priests

[Gandalf Parker]

(Im beginning to feel like a fanatic bringing the same thing up for every problem)
There is also an option of assassins/seducers casting Charm or Hellbind. Steal some better priests from a nation that has them. You can even steal their prophet and get multiples. Do damage to them at the same time that you are benefiting yourself.

OR if you want something less aggressive but abit more difficult to arrange, you can trade for them. Trading for mages and priests is possible. The person simply moves that unit to a province owned by you where you have mages lined up waiting to cast Charm or Hellbind. (that used to be much easier before Wind Ride got nerfed)

[Stavis_L]

You could summon a mound fiend, which gives you an H2.

http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Summon_Mound_Fiend

http://dom3.servegame.com/wiki/Mound_Fiend

That plus one of the swords gives you H3/D3 on an undead chassis.

[Rytek]

A B1 warrior sorceress leading a 4 man communion would be the easist solution.

[Stavis_L]

If I remember correctly, the remote attack spell imprint souls provides an insane priest commander. I've never had the commander become a prophet unless playing LA R'yleh. But then, I haven't cast it all that much.

[thejeff]

I think Shattered Soul does have a different list of actions.

All the other sources of insanity seem to produce the same actions as R'lyehs. Except that non-R'lyeh commanders don't become prophets. I've had plenty go insane from R'lyeh's influence and never gotten a prophet out of it.

[Verjigorm]

I assume this is for Divine Blessing?

Androphags and Oiorpata are both Cap-only sacreds, so their numbers will generally be quite limited. The best thing to do would be to put multiple Warrior Sorceresses among them and then order them to cast Bless until the units are out of casting range. You'll get a good percentage of them.

The two best ways of getting H3 have already been mentioned (Mound Fiend and Sabbath Slave War Sorc), but it isn't necessary to have a B1 Warrior Sorceress. An alternative is the Master/Slave Matrix depending on the type of communion you're forming. I would say that a Reverse Communion led by a Soothsayer with some kind of bow (If he casts spells, he'll fatigue/kill your WS):

1 Soothsayer (Master with Bow like BBoB scripted to Fire @ Rearmost)
3 Soothsayer (Slave)
1 Warrior Sorceress (Slave Matrix)

This will allow your WS to use DB and whatever other magic she has without fatiguing the other participants in the communion. If she was an N1 for instance, she could waste your slaves off-script when she started spamming non-Astral magic.

With the reverse communion, the 3 Soothsayer slaves can cast Soul Slay while you get some DB and Smite action off your WS.

Plus, this basic communion structure can also be combined with your Witch Kings, Enaries, and Spirit Guides (Slave Matrix, please) to augment your other magic.

The only problem with implementing this is finding Earth magic in Sauromatia. Therefore, you'll want at least a pretender who can make the matrices. Besides, a 4E bless would be lovely anyway to reduce encumbrance on your sacred armies and Witch Kings and gives access to hammers. The Earth magic limitation to this strategy will confine it to the realm of novelty unless you pick up something cool in the way of magic sites to recruit ES mages from (High Temple of the Magii?).

Other than that, I would confine your view to alternatives to blessing. What magic can I use instead?

I want to be looking at things I can do easily:

Quickness, Body Ethereal, Luck/Battle Fortune/Will of the Fates, Regeneration, Touch of Madness,

You could do a combo like Poison Ward and Foul Vapors (maybe with Hydra guards) or Winter Ward/Grip of Winter.

These are just ideas I pulled out of my rear for the purposes of example only, btw, I haven't played Sauromatia extensively.

[thejeff]

I assume you intend your Soothsayer Master to cast PotS to boost Holy? Are Warrior Sorceresses H2s? I don't remember.

[RadicalTurnip]

I didn't know that only Ryleth got prophets, good to know. I wonder if it's scripted into the nation, or the unit...as in, if I for some strange reason wished for a Ryleth unit, and he became insane, might he declare himself a prophet or not?

[Verjigorm]

Originally Posted by thejeff

I assume you intend your Soothsayer Master to cast PotS to boost Holy? Are Warrior Sorceresses H2s? I don't remember.

Bah! Apparently my understanding of reverse communions is horribly flawed.

They are H1. It was my understanding (emphasis on was), that Slaves got +1 all paths per power of 2 slaves (2 = +1, 4 = +2, 8 = +3, etc.) including holy. The following test:

1 Priestess (Slave)
3 Mystic (Slave)
1 Mystic (Master)

At this level we should be +2 all which is true for the master, but not for the slaves. None of the slaves cast any spells that were above their basic path level until after I used PoTS which means that something is either different or I'm just stupid.

I'm referencing this guide btw:

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/showthread.php?t=37499

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Now, after I PoTS the priestess will Smite (She's H2), and the slave mystics will cast spells that are under there, now visibly reflected increased spell abilities but won't cast above those. For instance, the boosted 2FS mystic wouldn't cast Falling Fire on turn 2 because he hadn't been hit with PoTS, but would cast it on turn 3.

Did something change or am I just totally wrong about reverse communions?

I usually use Traditional (Forward) communions, but was working on some reverse communion strategies based on the guide above, but it appears to be not be the case either ever or as occurrence of some patch. I've used reverse communions before.. perhaps I just didn't notice something (probably because i usually leave my communions largely unscripted after the communion spell is cast)? There is no way to get an S1 mage to cast Soul Slay as a communion slave as suggested in the guide, and I can't believe the guide was wrong.

Was there a patch I'm not aware of?


Either way, the strategy I put forth is bunk and must be amended. The Warrior Sorceress must be the master of the communion which means switch the strategy to 4 Soothsayer slaves and 1 Warrior Sorceress scripted to cast w/e. She will probably frequently kill slaves in long battles and will need a continuous supply unless you put a bow on her and instruct her to fire after she's done with her script. The slaves will also be much less useful than I had indicated but can cast Paralyze if you add a second master who casts PoTS. Giving someone a Banner of the Northern Star will get the Soul Slay going.

[thejeff]

Slaves get the communion boost only for reducing fatigue from spells cast by the masters.

I think the guide is wrong about Soul Slay, though the rest of the description looks right. The confusion may have come in because you can boost some paths by 2, (PotS, & Summon Earth|Phoenix Power|etc.) And as you suggest, Banner (or Light) of the Northern star will get the slaves up to 3 S, though not 3H.

This is why Mystics make such good reverse communions, they tend to have the paths with easy booster spells. E1 or F1 jumps up to E3, F3 and they all get reinvig from Summon Earth.