Is there a way to get more out of my Priest?

[Arlie]

My party is at level 8 (currently leaving Arnika). I have a Fighter (Drac), Monk (Felp), Bard (Hob), Ranger (Mook), Priest (RaW)and Mage (faerie). I also have the two NPCs (Vi and Myles).

All the characters outside of the Priest have been key thus far. The Fighter and Monk and made short work in melee. The Bard has been great with both the crossbow and music (love those pipes!). The Ranger has been deadly with the bow and the Mage has provided nice magic support.

But, my priest has been hanging around with a sling and little else in combat (aside from an occasional paralize or make wounds). His heal wounds skill is nice, but it isn't anything one of my 35 million healing potions couldn't do as well. In all honesty, they only positive the Priest has brought to my part is the Armorplate spell, identify spell (saves a little cash) and the rest all stamina increaser. My Bard can cast Bless and potions can take care of stamina (in addition to my Ranger).

So, I ask, is there a way to maximize the use of my Priest? Or, should I cut my losses here and add a level 1 Psionic, Alchemist or Bishop?

To be honest, right now I am looking at adding someone else and giving the priest his walking papers. It seems like a waste to use a roster spot for Armorplate, identify and the occasional miracle.

Any insight? Am I missing some great skill/ability the priest gets down the road?

Arlie

[Smokefoot]

quote:

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Originally posted by Arlie:
But, my priest has been hanging around with a sling and little else in combat (aside from an occasional paralize or make wounds). His heal wounds skill is nice, but it isn't anything one of my 35 million healing potions couldn't do as well. In all honesty, they only positive the Priest has brought to my part is the Armorplate spell, identify spell (saves a little cash) and the rest all stamina increaser. My Bard can cast Bless and potions can take care of stamina (in addition to my Ranger).

So, I ask, is there a way to maximize the use of my Priest? Or, should I cut my losses here and add a level 1 Psionic, Alchemist or Bishop?

To be honest, right now I am looking at adding someone else and giving the priest his walking papers. It seems like a waste to use a roster spot for Armorplate, identify and the occasional miracle.

Any insight? Am I missing some great skill/ability the priest gets down the road?

Arlie

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Armorplate, Magic Screen, Silence, Superman (last two can also be done by Psi) The best thing about a priest is all the spells they can cast which keeps the rest of the party alive and kicking. What I did, though, was create a bishop who specialized in priest and mage spells - the best of both worlds with a slower rate of leveling.

[Eldurin]

Heal All is an important spell in mid-game - and it takes longer for a Bishop - even one specializing in Divine spells, to get it. I found my Priest to be vitally important until my characters reached around level 15-20. By that time, I had all the high-level Priest spells, and switched her to a Valkyrie to provide melee support (while retaining all her Priest spells).

My guess is that you are not training your Priest enough. Whenever possible, have him or her cast spells every round of combat so you can qualify for better spells at higher power. Have him or her cast Light, Armorplate, Magic Screen, and anything else you have before and after each rest period and whenever they expire during your adventures.

My Priest, before she became a Valkyrie, was casting Lighting, Whirlwind, Death Wish, Falling Stars, Heal All, and more, making her an important asset to our party.

[vesselle]

personally, i HATE having each member of my party waste their attacks every other round by using them to swallow potions. in my book, that's bad management.

the priestess is a healer, that's what she should be used for. why use TWO of your bard's precious turns to drink down stamina and then a heal? esp when the priestess can use those same 2 turns to heal/restore your entire party.

as time goes on, you are going to have your hands full with bad monsters, who can do more damage in one round than a whole herd of whatever you're currently facing. and mid game has lots of elemental resistant baddies....that means divinity spells are a "godsend".

the way i see it, each party member has a focus. the priestess may not be melee or a magic caster, but she is still important. she's the one pumping the gas to keep the killing machine running. also, it's a shame to water down another strong char to make them take on priestess duties. a bard is great as a bard, but when you start slacking on the point management to add in decent healing abilities, she's not gonna shine quite as much.

but this is my playing style. if you really don't like priestesses, then don't play with one.

btw: my party is almost exactly like yours, except my fighter is a human Valkyrie and my priestess is a dwarf (because of their natural damage resistance) and i put a few extra stat points into her STR and VIT to up her to approx 80 HPS.

[MaskedFrog]

The priest has all sorts of defensive spells that help amazingly in combat. However if you do not like the priest maybe you change his/her class to a bishop. You still retain your priest spells and now can learn any of the other spell books. My current party relies on the Psionic and Bishop to provide support during combat. Most rounds unless it is an easy fight they are casting something.

Whatever you do, I would not get rid of the priest. At the next level up change over to whatever suits your style.

[Merkin]

I feel like I'm getting good use out of my priest. She doesn't have many kills compared to the rest of the party, but that's ok. Web, restoring stamina to the bard, curing paralysis, sleep, and other conditions, etc. She keeps the party healthy while they fight. When the party IS healthy, she gets pretty decent damage from make wounds and whirlwind.

What I did with mine is specialize in two realms, divine and water. I have her blessing and armorplating every chance she gets, helping the bard with divine traps, identifying. Her Divinity and realms skills have moved up nicely. I haven't put a single point into a non-magic skill with her, and all atribute points have gone into PIE and VIT. She's a tank, and can just stand there and get hit repeatedly while she keeps on healing.

[Arlie]

Thanks for the replies. I don't really want to switch classes because it takes just as long to go from 8-9 as it would to go from 1-2 in the new class. Plus, his skills might not be best suited for another class (I've maxed out Piety and Intelligence thus far).

I guess I do use the Priest a lot more than I thought. I have pumped up some of her magic stats by casting Bless, Identify and ArmorPlate all the time (didn't think about using light though). Some of the later spells do look like they might make the Priest worthwhile.

To be honest, I have only had one (maybe two) encounters thus far where I have been worried. So, most of my encounters involve players cleaning up in melee with some status spells (Freeze flesh, web, sleep) from my mage. But since I just left Arnika, I'm sure many tough battles lay ahead where my Priest will be vital.

I think the Priest is easily overlooked when you are stomping people and I was "taking him for granted". Put me in a couple tough encounters down the road without him and I bet I'll wish I had him [img]smile.gif[/img]

As an aside, I have heard many here talking about the fire and air realms of the mage class. I have been specializing in the "water" realm and been very happy. As I said above, I haven't had too hard a time in most encounters, party because of my Faerie Mage. Her level 3 powered Freeze Flesh will usually oaralyze between 30-50% of most opponents I face. This makes them easy pickens for my Fighter, Monk and Vi. Add in later spells like Dehydrate, Freeze All and Blizzard and it appears a "Water" mage can be a melee-based party's best friend.

Arlie

[Eldurin]

Arlie,

Another thing you can try is just create a new savegame as a test, dump your Priest, and see how things go for a while.

Also, it will take a lot longer for your Priest to go from Level 8-9 than it will for a new character to go from level 1-2. I still would not, however, recommend dumping the Priest for a new character unless you believe that none of his or her current skills are that useful to you.

[Arlie]

Eldurin,

I meant that if I switched classes (from say Priest to Bishop), it would take just as long to go from 8-9 as a Priest as it would to gain the first level as a Bishop. That makes the change a little less "sexy".

I think I'll stick with my Priest, though.

Arlie