Need help with a Priest Build/Strategy

[Ravepig]

I have what I think is a decent build for at least one of every mage type- except the Priest/Priestess. I can't seem to come up with a good strategy that suits me. First off, I've never played a Priest or Priestess, but I have played against them. Understanding my only experience obviously comes from my play group so this may speak to the lack of smart playing with those in my group, but I easily defeat the holy mage every time. I simply rush before she can get out her crazy-tough creatures. And so far, that's worked well for me.

The challenge I'm having is that I have a theme for each of my books with at least two key strategies I can employ depending on what my opponent does. I am seriously struggling to come up with something I'm confident with for the holy mage. My goal is to round out my spellbooks by including a Holy Mage I feel good about it.

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas on strategy and theme?

I should add, I seem a little more partial to the priest due to his abilities but welcome suggestions for either holy mage.

[Sailor Vulcan]

Burst healing spells are very good. You're opponent might take a bunch of actions to do a ton of damage to you, and you can reverse a lot of it for only an 8 mana quick cast. And unlike attack spells, healing spells always get past armor.

Because of the heal spells, you don't need as much armor as other mages often do. One or two armor is plenty to wear at a time even if you're not rushing! The holy school also loves bulky creatures with strong attacks that can be used over and over again due to the holy school's defensive buffs. Healing charm on a knight of westlock can allow it get one or two more attacks in before it dies.

If you're using less bulky creatures you will have to heal them more.

Use healing and defensive buffs to give you action advantage. If your opponent summons six bitterwood foxes in first two rounds and you summon a knight of westlock round 1...

By round 3 the opponent's foxes have generated 9 actions total and knight has only generated 3. If you kill two foxes per round starting round 3, then by the time you've killed all the foxes its round five and your opponent has used them to generate 15 actions, while your knight has only generated 5. So you either need to heal or defensively buff the knight to make it able to last for at least ten more rounds so he can attack ten more times, or undo the results of all of your opponent's fox actions by healing yourself, using only one or two quick actions and 8-13 mana, compared to the opponent's 30 mana and six quick actions for their fox swarm.

This is only one example of the power of the holy school. I suspect that you have to figure out how many and how bulky the creatures you want to run are first, then decide how much healing you want to devote to them and how much to your Mage, or in other words how long you want your creature(s) to last and how much your willing to invest to keep them alive. I suspect that priests and priestesses that use bulkier creatures use more healing on themselves and those that use less bulky creatures tend to heal their creatures more instead.

However I'm not super familiar with the priest and priestess so everything I've said is mostly speculation based on what I've seen and what I've played against, rather than on any priest/ess spellbooks I've made myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Reddicediaries]

Look for my holy light priestess. It has a lot of options and is very flexible. It gets the threat onto the board early and makes it so the opponent has to react.

[Borg]

Hi Ravepig,

I'll just copy/paste from one of my older threads. ( april 5th, 2015 )
This Priestess can hit fast and hard.
I still have to update her with the Priestess expansion I just got last week but you'll get the picture.


Paste :

It started with an idea, but then the results turned out to be even better than expected.

For starters, here's the book :

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Transfusion Priestess[/spellbookname]
[mage]Priestess[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]3 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFW01]4 x  Wall of Earth[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j22]1 x  Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKC06]4 x  Guardian Angel[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e01]3 x  Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE06]2 x  Lion Savagery[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]2 x  Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e36]2 x  Rhino Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]1 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE07]2 x  Rust[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE04]6 x  Enchantment Transfusion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02]1 x  Akiro's Favor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e28]2 x  Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE03]2 x  Falcon Precision[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]3 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE03]3 x  Healing Charm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE02]1 x  Divine Might[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e11]1 x  Divine Intervention[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e03]1 x  Bull Endurance[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1q09]1 x  Enchanter's Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ06]2 x  Eagleclaw Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i23]2 x  Rouse the Beast[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI06]1 x  Defend[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]1 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]1 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]1 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i14]1 x  Heal[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

The book wants to exploit Enchantment Transfusion to its full capacity.

From a defensive standpoint : ET allows you to protect a stack of enchantments by giving you "instant" speed to transfer the stack of enchantments to another creature should something tragic happen to the stack bearer.

From an offensive standpoint : ET allows you to attack with TWO fully equipped creatures even though you have cast all those enchantments only once thus giving you an enormous action, mana and power advantage.

The ideal Creature for the Priestess to use this strategy on is of course the Guardian Angel.
I'm not going to go over all that creature's positives here as I reckon they're already known by all here.
One important point to mention here though, is that the GA is a flyer and that means that the Priestess has line of sight to them at all times, even when behind a wall.

And that's where our secondary strategy comes in : getting the most out of our Walls of Earth.

For starters, they are immune to the most prolific ranged damage elements in the game : Fire and Lightning making them a nightmare to get rid of for Mages specializing in that element.

Second, they are cheap to cast at only 5 mana and hold up relatively well with 8 life.

But third and most important, the Priestess is going to use them defensively by moving over and around them - with the help of her Eagleclaw Boots - to completely stay out of melee contact while at the same time being able to keep line of sight to her Angels open and thus continue her offense unhindered as well.

Possible tactics with the walls include :
- wall the Priestess/enemy mage off and simply continue your strategy
- Trick an enemy flyer into a walled off zone then play your Maim Wings on it and leave it there to rot ( I see you Adramelech, here kitty, kitty )

The Priestess can afford to take a hit or two during the early turns while she's setting up both Angels and the Enchantment stack as she will be able to evade enemy contact and heal in consequent turns.

And let's not forget her Restore and Divine Reward skills, meaning any condition counters can be dealt with swiftly if necessary.

The opening strategy goes like this :

R1-20 : Avenging Angel - Enchanter's Ring

R2-16 : cast on Angel FD cheetah Speed - FD Lion Savagery

- move Priestess closer to enemy mage, if advisable, so that the following angel can be cast in cheetah speed striking range. Try to move your Priestess as such that 1 wall can block line of sight to your Priestess as opposed to staying diagonally vs the opposing mage.
- double move Angel to NC or if possible attack, the Angel can double move and attack with 5 dice and Pierce+1 at this point

R3-23 : FD Bear Strength - FD Enchantment Transfusion
- assuming we haven't attacked yet in round two, attack with Angel, reveal BS,LS,CS : 7 dice, Pierce+1

R4-21 : Avenging Angel - Rouse the Beast
- Attack with your enchanted Angel : 7 dice, Pierce+1 (14 dice )
- Transfuse the enchantments to the second angel and attack again : 7 dice, Pierce+1 (21 dice )

R5-13 : Wall of Earth - Enchantment Transfusion
- move your Priestess in a defensive position and cast the wall to block her from the enemy
- make two attacks again : 2 x 7 dice, Pierce+1 (35 dice)

From this point on, the Priestess should play "hard to get" while continuing her support of the Angels.
If one goes down, no problem, just cast a new one.

[Puddnhead]

Gdiekhaus ran an extremely similar book at GenCon 2015 and took 3rd place with it and actually beat Hanma's book on day one.

[Ravepig]

Hi Ravepig,

I'll just copy/paste from one of my older threads. ( april 5th, 2015 )
This Priestess can hit fast and hard.
I still have to update her with the Priestess expansion I just got last week but you'll get the picture.


Paste :

It started with an idea, but then the results turned out to be even better than expected.

For starters, here's the book :

[spellbook]
[spellbookheader]
[spellbookname]Transfusion Priestess[/spellbookname]
[mage]Priestess[/mage]
[/spellbookheader]
[spells]
[spellclass]Attack[/spellclass]
[mwcard=DNA01]3 x  Acid Ball[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Conjuration[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFW01]4 x  Wall of Earth[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1j22]1 x  Tanglevine[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Creature[/spellclass]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKC06]4 x  Guardian Angel[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Enchantment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1e01]3 x  Bear Strength[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE06]2 x  Lion Savagery[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e05]2 x  Cheetah Speed[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e36]2 x  Rhino Hide[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e25]1 x  Maim Wings[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE07]2 x  Rust[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE04]6 x  Enchantment Transfusion[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE02]1 x  Akiro's Favor[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e28]2 x  Mongoose Agility[/mwcard]
[mwcard=FWE03]2 x  Falcon Precision[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFE04]3 x  Brace Yourself[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE03]3 x  Healing Charm[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKE02]1 x  Divine Might[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e11]1 x  Divine Intervention[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1e03]1 x  Bull Endurance[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Equipment[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1q09]1 x  Enchanter's Ring[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX1CKQ06]2 x  Eagleclaw Boots[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1q07]1 x  Elemental Cloak[/mwcard]
[spellclass]Incantation[/spellclass]
[mwcard=mw1i23]2 x  Rouse the Beast[/mwcard]
[mwcard=MWSTX2FFI06]1 x  Defend[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i24]1 x  Seeking Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i06]3 x  Dispel[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i28]1 x  Teleport[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i12]1 x  Force Push[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i07]2 x  Dissolve[/mwcard]
[mwcard=mw1i14]1 x  Heal[/mwcard]
[/spells]
[cost]Total cost: 120 pts[/cost]
[/spellbook]

The book wants to exploit Enchantment Transfusion to its full capacity.

From a defensive standpoint : ET allows you to protect a stack of enchantments by giving you "instant" speed to transfer the stack of enchantments to another creature should something tragic happen to the stack bearer.

From an offensive standpoint : ET allows you to attack with TWO fully equipped creatures even though you have cast all those enchantments only once thus giving you an enormous action, mana and power advantage.

The ideal Creature for the Priestess to use this strategy on is of course the Guardian Angel.
I'm not going to go over all that creature's positives here as I reckon they're already known by all here.
One important point to mention here though, is that the GA is a flyer and that means that the Priestess has line of sight to them at all times, even when behind a wall.

And that's where our secondary strategy comes in : getting the most out of our Walls of Earth.

For starters, they are immune to the most prolific ranged damage elements in the game : Fire and Lightning making them a nightmare to get rid of for Mages specializing in that element.

Second, they are cheap to cast at only 5 mana and hold up relatively well with 8 life.

But third and most important, the Priestess is going to use them defensively by moving over and around them - with the help of her Eagleclaw Boots - to completely stay out of melee contact while at the same time being able to keep line of sight to her Angels open and thus continue her offense unhindered as well.

Possible tactics with the walls include :
- wall the Priestess/enemy mage off and simply continue your strategy
- Trick an enemy flyer into a walled off zone then play your Maim Wings on it and leave it there to rot ( I see you Adramelech, here kitty, kitty )

The Priestess can afford to take a hit or two during the early turns while she's setting up both Angels and the Enchantment stack as she will be able to evade enemy contact and heal in consequent turns.

And let's not forget her Restore and Divine Reward skills, meaning any condition counters can be dealt with swiftly if necessary.

The opening strategy goes like this :

R1-20 : Avenging Angel - Enchanter's Ring

R2-16 : cast on Angel FD cheetah Speed - FD Lion Savagery

- move Priestess closer to enemy mage, if advisable, so that the following angel can be cast in cheetah speed striking range. Try to move your Priestess as such that 1 wall can block line of sight to your Priestess as opposed to staying diagonally vs the opposing mage.
- double move Angel to NC or if possible attack, the Angel can double move and attack with 5 dice and Pierce+1 at this point

R3-23 : FD Bear Strength - FD Enchantment Transfusion
- assuming we haven't attacked yet in round two, attack with Angel, reveal BS,LS,CS : 7 dice, Pierce+1

R4-21 : Avenging Angel - Rouse the Beast
- Attack with your enchanted Angel : 7 dice, Pierce+1 (14 dice )
- Transfuse the enchantments to the second angel and attack again : 7 dice, Pierce+1 (21 dice )

R5-13 : Wall of Earth - Enchantment Transfusion
- move your Priestess in a defensive position and cast the wall to block her from the enemy
- make two attacks again : 2 x 7 dice, Pierce+1 (35 dice)

From this point on, the Priestess should play "hard to get" while continuing her support of the Angels.
If one goes down, no problem, just cast a new one.

I REALLY like this book and the strategy that comes with it! I'm actually undefeated when I've borrowed from your books- this one looks to be just as solid. Thank you!

Actually playing my arch-nemesis tonight (who coincidentally almost always plays Priestess). Don't know if I'll have time to put this particular book together for tonight's match, but I definitely will be getting it ready for my  next match!

[drmambo23]

Can you only have 4 enchantment transfusions if you are not trained in arcane?

Like 6 level 1 spells if you are trained in them and only 4 of a level 1 if it is out of school...or have i been going about this all wrong?

[iNano78]

Can you only have 4 enchantment transfusions if you are not trained in arcane?

Like 6 level 1 spells if you are trained in them and only 4 of a level 1 if it is out of school...or have i been going about this all wrong?

The rules say nothing about training in this regard.  You're limited to at most 6 copies of level 1, 4 copies of level 2+ (and 1 copy of Epic).

[Ravepig]

Can you only have 4 enchantment transfusions if you are not trained in arcane?

Like 6 level 1 spells if you are trained in them and only 4 of a level 1 if it is out of school...or have i been going about this all wrong?

Doesn't matter if you're trained in them or not- they will just cost you double (or maybe even triple) SBPs if you are untrained. You can have 6 of any level 1 spell and 4 of any level 2+ spells so long as you're willing to spend the spellbook points.

[drmambo23]

Well, 5 lashings for me. Hopefully that help me remember this.