I decided to sit down and do a little number crunching while waiting for Laundry today on what is the best start method for a Faerie Bishop and an Elf Bishop (the best to races in the game to become Bishops). I decided to go with the following criteria as well, Int and Spd have to maxed out as soon as possible, but playing with the starting attribute points to try to maximize their overall power. I also decided to look at if starting as another caster first and then switching into Bishop would be a good idea, here is the results I came up with.
Bishop required starting attributes: 55 Int, 55 Pie, 55 Dex, 55 Sen
Mage required starting attributes: 60 Int, 55 Dex
Alchemist required starting attributes: 55 Int, 60 Dex
Psionic required starting attributes: 55 Int, 60 Sen
Priest required starting attributes: 60 Pie, 55 Vit
Faerie starting attributes: 25 Str, 55 Int, 35 Pie, 30 Vit, 50 Dex, 60 Spd, 45 Sen
Elf starting attributes: 35 Str, 50 Int, 50 Pie, 35 Vit, 50 Dex, 45 Spd, 40 Sen
I'm going to leave off Str in the listing of attributes since it is not needed to build an effective Bishop.
Faerie
Mage start, 50 bonus points, final attributes: 68 Int (+8), 52 Pie (+17), 30 Vit, 55 Dex, 73 Spd (+13), 57 Sen
Alchmist start, 50 bonus points, final attributes: 68 Int (+13), 52 Pie (+17), 30 Vit, 60 Dex, 73 Spd (+13), 52 Sen (+7)
Psionic start, 45 bonus points, final attributes
(1): 68 Int (+13), 49 Pie (+14), 30 Vit, 55 Dex (+5), 73 Spd (+13), 60 Sen
Priest start, 10 bonus points, final attributes
(2): 59 Int (+4), 60 Pie, 55 Vit, 52 Dex (+2), 60 Spd, 49 Sen (+4)
Bishop start, 25 bonus points, final attributes: 62 Int (+7), 64 Pie (+9), 30 Vit, 55 Dex, 67 Spd (+7), 57 Sen (+2)
Elf
Mage start, 45 bonus points, final attributes: 68 Int (+8), 57 Pie (+7), 35 Vit, 55 Dex, 60 Spd (+15), 55 Sen (+15)
Alchemist start, 45 bonus points, final attributes: 65 Int (+10), 55 Pie (+5), 35 Vit, 60 Dex, 60 Spd (+15), 55 Sen (+15)
Psionic start, 35 bonus points, final attributes: 65 Int (+10), 60 Pie (+10), 35 Vit, 55 Dex (+5), 55 Spd (+10), Sen 60
Priest start, 30 bonus points, final attributes
(2): 59 Int (+9), 60 Pie, 55 Vit, 52 Dex (+2), 55 Spd (+10), 49 Sen (+9)
Bishop start, 30 bonus points, final attributes: 65 Int (+10), 65 Pie (+10), 35 Vit, 55 Dex, 55 Spd (+10), 55 Sen
(1) - starting as a Psionic will require the Faerie the spend an additional level as a Psionic before switching to Bishop
(2) - starting as a Priest will require an additional level as a Priest before switching to Bishop
Achievement of 100 Int
(3), Spd, and Pie
Faerie
Mage: 10/11/25 can also achieve maximum in either Dex or Sen by lv 26
Alchemist: 11/11/26 and can achieve maximum in Sen at 26 as well or could achieve Dex at 25
Psionic: 11/11/26 and can achieve maximum in Sen at 25 or Dex at 26
Priest: 14/16/26 and can achieve maximum in either Dex or Sen at 31
Bishop: 12/12/24 can also achieve maximum in either Dex or Sen 27
Elf
Mage: 11/15/25 and also achieve maximum in either Dex or Sen by lv 30
Alchemist: 11/15/26 and also achieve maximum in Dex by 29 or Sen by lv 30
Psionic: 11/16/25 and also achieve maximum in Sen by 30 and Dex by 31
Priest: 14/18/28 and also achieve maximum in Dex or Sen by 33
Bishop: 11/16/23 and also achieve maximum in Dex or Sen by 31
(3) - This assumes that getting the 5 Int from the Tryton fountain prior to maxing out Int
Faerie
So, looking at the above information, it can be easily seen that for a Faerie that is to be a Bishop, they should start off first as a Mage as they will achieve maximum in Int two levels ahead of if they start as a Bishop and also one level ahead in Spd. They do lose out by one level in Pie, but they also can achieve maximum in either Sen or Dex one level before the Bishop. Starting Alchemst isn't a bad idea either as they are very similar to a Mage (only getting Int maxed one level later). The only thing edging out the Alchemist and going Mage instead is the fact that a Mage starts with point already in the elements they start with (7 points each in Fire, Water, Air, and Mental) while the Alchemist does not, but starts with 4 points less in Realm (Mage start 8 in Thaumaturgy while Alchemist starts 12 in Alchemy). Psionic isn't a bad choice either, but, you have to spend two levels as a Psionic before you can switching into Bishop. Flat out though, bad idea to start Priest and then switch into Bishop. You take a lot longer to achieve maximum in Int and Spd that way. So, when starting a Faerie that will become a Bishop, don't bother starting Priest, best to actually start as a Mage or an Alchemist first (this will depend on taste) and then switch into Bishop.
Elf
Like the Faerie above, don't start Priest if you wish to have an Elven Bishop. Unlike the Faerie though, starting as a Bishop is actually going to benefit you a little more as you will get Pie two levels before starting as a Mage, but Spd one level later. With the Elf, it almost not a bad idea to start off as anything except as a Priest as they all seem to get Int, Spd, and Pie around the same time and will depend more on your preference of which spells you would like to get first.
So, the next time you start out a party that will contain a Bishop, hopefully this will help out in your decision.
