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vesselle · 01-16-2002, 04:41 PM

the following is from the brain of merkin

i just wanted it to be posted with his other treatises on
"growing the perfect teammate"

---------------------------------------------------------------

The Rawulf. Dwarfs make good Priests, they don’t make great priests. The Rawulf has the big jump in starting PIE, and far better SEN than the dwarf, and SEN is vital to the Priest, you always want him going towards the beginning of melee, to heal/restore the party BEFORE their combat turn comes up. So get yourself a nice doggie, and watch him save your party’s bacon over and over again.

At character creation:

15 INT, 17 PIE, 2 VIT, 10 SPD, 6 SEN.

The PIE for the Priest is obvious, the others less so. 2 points in VIT gives you that all important bonus bump, allowing you to safely ignore VIT for the rest of the game. The 10 SPD points while not crucial to your priest, are to your party as a whole. In combat movement, you move at the rate of your slowest character, and anyone under 50 is going to seriously hamper your party. The 6 into SEN, while not much at first, will keep getting added to throughout the game, we’ll start ramping it up faster soon. Now the hotly debated question of INT for a Priest. Yes, it does matter. INT is the prime attribute for increasing in your realms skills. Now, how MUCH it matters is difficult to answer. It seems through play-testing that about 56 is the level that takes you out of the “penalty box”, and lets your realms skills improve much faster. And as 55 is the min. INT for most spellcasters, I feel safe taking it to 56 then stopping for awhile.

So, at creation your Rawulf Priest looks like this:

STR: 40
INT: 45
PIE: 77
VIT: 57
DEX: 40
SPD: 50
SEN: 56

At level ups, go 3 PIE, 2 INT, 1 SEN, until you max PIE and get INT to 56. Then, dump everything into SEN and SPD. You really want, before you hit mid-game, to have your priest faster than everyone in your party, with the exceptions of Samurais, Monks, Rogues, and Ninjas. Once SEN hits 80, back off, and go 3 INT, 1 SEN and 1 SPD.

Now on to the skills:
Just like the Mage, the Priest really should be a pure spellcaster. Wiz Priests do NOT make good Cleric/Warriors like they do in D&D. Just because they CAN wield a weapon, doesn’t mean they SHOULD wield a weapon. Put a sling in his hands just for forms sake, he’ll develop enough skill with it to make him useful as a bomb thrower, ditto with a mace, staff or whip, but all your skill points should be going to magic. The Priest picks up new spells at the same rate as other pure casters.

Spell Priest
Level Level
1 1
2 3
3 5
4 8
5 11
6 14
7 18

Divine, Water, and Mental should be your focus realms, with Air and Earth secondary, and Fire ignored completely. So put 3 points into Divinity, and 2 each into three of your realms, even if you don’t currently have a spell in that realm

These are the spells I’d go with, at different levels. Just like with the Mage, I’m not big on withholding spells, you’ll get them all soon enough, and extra books will be very useful to a Valk.

Level Spells Spells to pick
available
1 1st Heal Wounds
2 1st None
3 2nd Identify, Web, Cure Lesser Condition
4 2nd Guardian Angel
5 3rd Armorplate
6 3rd Magic Screen
7 3rd Silence
8 4th Soul Shield
9 4th Superman
10 4th Remove Curse
11 5th Heal All
12 5th Sane Mind
13 5th Instant Death
14 6th Resurrection
15 6th Banish
16 6th Lifesteal
17 6th ?
18 7th Restoration
19 7th Death Wish
20 7th Falling Stars
21 7th ?

As with the Mage, the “?” levels are places to fill in the gaps with spells you haven’t found/bought/stolen. Also, here again, this does not rely on finding a particular spell, they are bonuses, and duplicates can go to Vi, a Bishop, or a Lord.

Just like with all casters, non-combat/buff spells should be practiced…well, …religiously. Always cast them at max power, don’t worry if they fizzle or not, this is the fastest way to improve.

In terms of strategy, your buff spells should always be in place, so you don’t have to waste time with them in combat. Once combat begins, what you do will depend on the status of your party. Keeping them in fighting trim is mission number one, so if needed, healing, curing status effects, Guardian Angels, etc is your 1st priority. Next comes the debuff/immob spells like Web, and anything else you’ve picked up to slow the enemy down. The one exception is enemy casters, silencing them is ALWAYS your top priority. Because you should be going very early in melee, you should usually be able to neutralize a mage before that nasty Terror or Elemental spell even crosses her lips.

So there you have my version of the perfect Priest. Humble, selfless, willing to let others bask in the limelight; he will keep your party in fighting trim, laughing at silly Rapax (well, ok, not really) and cranking out those kills. A key member of the "perfect" team. Oh Lassie! Timmy is stuck..could you rescue him again? Woof!

---------------
merkin

---------------
re-posted by V***V

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: vesselle ]

01-16-2002, 04:41 PM	#1
vesselle Hathor Join Date: April 6, 2001 Location: the desert Posts: 2,296	the following is from the brain of merkin i just wanted it to be posted with his other treatises on "growing the perfect teammate" --------------------------------------------------------------- The Rawulf. Dwarfs make good Priests, they don’t make great priests. The Rawulf has the big jump in starting PIE, and far better SEN than the dwarf, and SEN is vital to the Priest, you always want him going towards the beginning of melee, to heal/restore the party BEFORE their combat turn comes up. So get yourself a nice doggie, and watch him save your party’s bacon over and over again. At character creation: 15 INT, 17 PIE, 2 VIT, 10 SPD, 6 SEN. The PIE for the Priest is obvious, the others less so. 2 points in VIT gives you that all important bonus bump, allowing you to safely ignore VIT for the rest of the game. The 10 SPD points while not crucial to your priest, are to your party as a whole. In combat movement, you move at the rate of your slowest character, and anyone under 50 is going to seriously hamper your party. The 6 into SEN, while not much at first, will keep getting added to throughout the game, we’ll start ramping it up faster soon. Now the hotly debated question of INT for a Priest. Yes, it does matter. INT is the prime attribute for increasing in your realms skills. Now, how MUCH it matters is difficult to answer. It seems through play-testing that about 56 is the level that takes you out of the “penalty box”, and lets your realms skills improve much faster. And as 55 is the min. INT for most spellcasters, I feel safe taking it to 56 then stopping for awhile. So, at creation your Rawulf Priest looks like this: STR: 40 INT: 45 PIE: 77 VIT: 57 DEX: 40 SPD: 50 SEN: 56 At level ups, go 3 PIE, 2 INT, 1 SEN, until you max PIE and get INT to 56. Then, dump everything into SEN and SPD. You really want, before you hit mid-game, to have your priest faster than everyone in your party, with the exceptions of Samurais, Monks, Rogues, and Ninjas. Once SEN hits 80, back off, and go 3 INT, 1 SEN and 1 SPD. Now on to the skills: Just like the Mage, the Priest really should be a pure spellcaster. Wiz Priests do NOT make good Cleric/Warriors like they do in D&D. Just because they CAN wield a weapon, doesn’t mean they SHOULD wield a weapon. Put a sling in his hands just for forms sake, he’ll develop enough skill with it to make him useful as a bomb thrower, ditto with a mace, staff or whip, but all your skill points should be going to magic. The Priest picks up new spells at the same rate as other pure casters. Spell Priest Level Level 1 1 2 3 3 5 4 8 5 11 6 14 7 18 Divine, Water, and Mental should be your focus realms, with Air and Earth secondary, and Fire ignored completely. So put 3 points into Divinity, and 2 each into three of your realms, even if you don’t currently have a spell in that realm These are the spells I’d go with, at different levels. Just like with the Mage, I’m not big on withholding spells, you’ll get them all soon enough, and extra books will be very useful to a Valk. Level Spells Spells to pick available 1 1st Heal Wounds 2 1st None 3 2nd Identify, Web, Cure Lesser Condition 4 2nd Guardian Angel 5 3rd Armorplate 6 3rd Magic Screen 7 3rd Silence 8 4th Soul Shield 9 4th Superman 10 4th Remove Curse 11 5th Heal All 12 5th Sane Mind 13 5th Instant Death 14 6th Resurrection 15 6th Banish 16 6th Lifesteal 17 6th ? 18 7th Restoration 19 7th Death Wish 20 7th Falling Stars 21 7th ? As with the Mage, the “?” levels are places to fill in the gaps with spells you haven’t found/bought/stolen. Also, here again, this does not rely on finding a particular spell, they are bonuses, and duplicates can go to Vi, a Bishop, or a Lord. Just like with all casters, non-combat/buff spells should be practiced…well, …religiously. Always cast them at max power, don’t worry if they fizzle or not, this is the fastest way to improve. In terms of strategy, your buff spells should always be in place, so you don’t have to waste time with them in combat. Once combat begins, what you do will depend on the status of your party. Keeping them in fighting trim is mission number one, so if needed, healing, curing status effects, Guardian Angels, etc is your 1st priority. Next comes the debuff/immob spells like Web, and anything else you’ve picked up to slow the enemy down. The one exception is enemy casters, silencing them is ALWAYS your top priority. Because you should be going very early in melee, you should usually be able to neutralize a mage before that nasty Terror or Elemental spell even crosses her lips. So there you have my version of the perfect Priest. Humble, selfless, willing to let others bask in the limelight; he will keep your party in fighting trim, laughing at silly Rapax (well, ok, not really) and cranking out those kills. A key member of the "perfect" team. Oh Lassie! Timmy is stuck..could you rescue him again? Woof! --------------- merkin --------------- re-posted by V***V [ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: vesselle ]