Blessing Effects and National/Theme Starting Spells

Alright; just another question here in terms of "why this?"

Why do all T'ien Ch'i have Flight? There is no national mage that can cast it unless you get a lucky pick or useless(S&A have flying Celestial Masters).

The only hero that can use it is the Master of the Iron Crutch. Perhaps if Flight was a Commander only Ritual spell that give permaflight or some spell to replace it.

Maybe I just don't see the usefulness of that particular spell being a "initial spell". Even thematic.

[LordArioch]

As another note, I think standard theme would get considerably stronger if it could cast any of its national spells without needing a 250 gold celestial master with a random pick in air or earth. Unless your pretender can summon them its going to be awhile before you see any celestial beings.

[Saber Cherry]

Yes... TC national spells are weak. I've never seen much point in casting flight in the first place; it's just another thing to script that takes the place of a useful spell. Plus nobody can cast it. If CM's had 2 air so they could actually cast celestial warriors... or (even better) 2 random so that 1 in 4 instead of 1 in 8 could cast it... it might be a quite useful summon=)

Why do they get 2 water, 1 air (and the Master of the Way 1 water, 0 air) when it seems to be such an air-focussed nation?

[LordArioch]

Perhaps more OT than the other questions...why not give Mictlan Bind Serpent Fiend? The prime advantage to serpent fiends over other blood spells seems to be that lvl 1 blood mages can cast it...it gives Mictlan an early blood summon without having to build 200+ gold mages to cast it. I don't see it making Mictlan too powerful, and it might give them the boost they need.

[ December 13, 2003, 00:11: Message edited by: LordArioch ]

I am going to post and update a "Summary of Strengths and Weaknesses" along with each theme. When posted, I would hope that if you have any objections or insertations you could please PM them to me; so I can update it in a timely manner.

Please remember that this Summary is only to give an idea of the theme and it's difference from the basic Race. It is in no way, shape, or form a guide; just a representation of differences. (For you Liga!)

Deleted

[ February 03, 2004, 19:23: Message edited by: Zen ]

[UbdU]

Originally posted by Zen:

While having diversity with their arcana they pay for it by not being powerful in any one field, no consistant access to Sabbath/Communion makes utilizing the most from them more difficult and the forging of magic path increasing items is often the only way to circumvent this.

Sorry for my ignorance; I am still learning the game. What does "Sabbath/Communion" mean in the context of the above sentence?

[liga]

I welcome any input. (For you Liga!)

I have realized just now that I never thank you about tha post that I have used really several time ...

thkx zen, really useful! you got my 5 stars!

Originally posted by UbdU:
Sorry for my ignorance; I am still learning the game. What does "Sabbath/Communion" mean in the context of the above sentence?

Don't be sorry My English professor would cry at the monstrocity we have here, so it's as much my fault as yours.

Sabbath/Communion is a game mechanic that when Sabbath (or Communion) Master is cast they are the leader of a group of casters that are pooling their magic to make it stronger. Why they are interchangable is because Communion is an Astral Spell while Sabbath is a Blood spell.

When Sabbath/Communion Slave is cast, they are the slave in the communion.

When a unit is the Sabbath/Communion Master they recieve +1 to all magical paths (Any magic they have, including Holy/Unholy) for 2 slaves, +2 for 4 slaves, +3 for 8 slaves, +4 for 16 slaves (etc) in the Communion. Also any spell that is cast by the Master the fatigue is equally distributed among the slaves. (Please note: When any unit gets 200+ Fatigue they start getting afflictions and potentially die)

You can have more than one Sabbath/Communion Master in a Communion as well as any number of slaves (though you may see why you would want an multiple of 2).

Example: 2 Astrologers (3 Astral, 1 Water Each) cast Communion Master while 4 Mystics cast Communion Slave.

Suddenly the 2 Astrologers have 5 Astral, 3 Water each, and when they cast spells the fatigue is given to the Mystics (who can still cast spells btw)

I hope you can see the uses of this, especially when you look at the spell lists. Also remember, that having a higher magic skill than the spell costs reduces it's fatigue cost (Per your manual) so this can also be a factor in using communion/sabbath.

So in that context (With Machaka) having alot of different but low magical skills on their mages makes them versatile, but won't allow them to cast the better/more powerful spells because they don't have blood/astral as one of them (thus they can't lead a communion/sabbath). Also you will note other portions of the guide will say "Cheap Sabbath/Communion Slaves" or "Expensive Sabbath/Communion Slaves" this is regards to how much gold it costs to produce someone with a single path in either Astral of Blood to use in a communion.

Did that answer you question?

Edit: Massive Update soon that will cover nearly all the nations/themes. I've been having some writer's block and there is alot of information to sift through while trying to just break down the strengths and weaknesses. Apology in advance . Changed Communion/Sabbath, I almost never use more than 4 so it slipped my mind it was a log instead of a multiple. And by my spelling, still very tired

[ January 14, 2004, 09:27: Message edited by: Zen ]

[Saber Cherry]

Originally posted by Zen:
When a unit is the Sabbath/Communion Master they recieve +1 to all magical paths (Any magic they have, including Holy/Unholy) for every 2 slaves in the Communion.

...it's not THAT powerful! They give (log base 2)(num slaves) bonus.

2 slaves: +1
4 slaves: +2
8 slaves: +3
16 slaves: +4
...