From experience Pray is a very intereting and cheap spell.

It will randomly cast a spell or give a bonus:

Spell:
No limits, but I never encounter a high level spell up to know. Most common is stamina and heal wounds.

Bonus:
Gold, XP. (others?)

When to use:
Use it at the start of a fight if you team is not at full healt or stamina, you have a big chance to get this spells. If you start at full power you have often the chance to get no resonce from the gods.

You cannot control the out come of that spell but you get at 80% a answer from the goods (unless you team is very healty).

Best bonus:
Magic missile (power 3 I suspect).
Healing (when my priest was drainned in Divine mana) [img]smile.gif[/img]

Pray is not really a spell since it does not cost Spell points and you do not use any of your skills.

Beside the effects you mentioned Pray can also cast "Soul Shield" and "Elemental Shield" (simultaneously) at a high power level. It can also cast "Banish" spells if there are undead nearby.

I rarely use it though. Because it is unreliable, and there is a risk to lose a round's action to cast light heal, stamina or magic missle. Whereas a level 20+ priest has much better spells.

My priest uses pray when magic is low and sometimes it will deliver a quite powerfull spell. Higher than what my priest could or even knows yet.

I tried using it at a low level when the priest was fully healed and had all his mana...I got the message, "The prayer goes unheard"
[img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img]

It can be very useful at times though. :D

I almost always get "The prayer goes unheard" however it has saved my party more than once. The most useful one I got was a high-powered Magic Missle. Not sure what lvl. but the fight ended the first round that way :D

-Jafin