Priestess

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Priestess

Priest

The sinister followers of Krypta, Goddess of Death, Priests and Priestesses wield powerful necromantic spells. Krypta's followers do not acknowledge such mortal trivia as titles or societal classes. As a result, they have little respect for Ardania's nobility. According to Ardania's nobility, the feeling is quite mutual.

Class Profile

Temples Accepted:	All except those belonging to Agrela, Dauros and Krolm.
Armor type:	Robes.
Weapon type:	Staves.
Difficulty to play:	Advanced.
Primary Stat:	INT
XP required to Level-Up:	1200
List of usable items

Attribute	STR	VIT	INT	WIL	ART	H2H	Ranged	Dodge	Parry	Luck	MGR	HPs
Starting Values	3-8	7-12	25-30	19-24	6-11	20	0	20	10	15	35	10

[edit] Spells and Abilities

Spells:

Animate Skeleton (begins with this spell)
Drain Life (begins with this spell)
Control Undead (learned at level 7)

Abilities:

Spell Casting (begins with this ability)

[edit] Class Overview

The Priestess is Ardania's 'other' offensive caster class, and has much in common with the Wizard. Like Wizards, the Priestess relies heavily on spells for combat, has low defensive stats, and cannot wear armor beyond robes. Unlike Wizards, the Priestess (initially) lacks high damaging spells, does not learn any spell that can damage multiple opponents (unless equipped with the schematics staff), and lacks defensive spells outside of what she learns at the Library.

Instead, the Priestess is able to raise up to 3 Skeleton followers. These skeletons are raised instantly during any non combat turn, and should they survive a few battles, will level themselves up to Skeletal Overlords. This ability is extremely useful in the early game, and gives the Priestess one of the easiest starts of any class. Although these minions are not a huge source of damage, they make effective meat shields (bone shields?), or at least free speed bumps between the Priestess and her prey. As fighting with minions splits XP between the hero and her followers, it is recommended that the priestess select "Auto Dismiss Followers". The skeletons are free and expendable, and the priestess will enjoy a large XP bonus at the end of any fight where skeletons are killed and dismissed. Coupled with low XP requirements to level (1200, almost half of what it takes a Wizard to level), this can help her level very fast. Her primary stat is Intelligence, which is very important for spellcasters, so the faster she levels, the better.

In addition to her skeleton minions, after 7th level the priestess may control Lesser Undead creatures to fight for her. Controlling allows the priestess to recruit some more powerful followers, like Vampires and Shadow Beasts. Initially, the main attack for the Priestess is her reliable Drain Life spell. This spell does mediocre damage by itself, but damage is boosted by the Priestess's high Intelligence and it will heal her or one of her minions for 5HP. The heal is pretty minor, but it does help keep followers up and the Priestess healthy.

Moving through the mid-game, playing the Priestess is harder than playing a Wizard due to the lack of high damage and multiple target spells. Fortunately, this deficiency is first mitigated once the Staff of Death is obtained. One of the best schematic items in the game, getting the Staff of Death is of utmost importance to the Priestess, since her damage output will be improved dramatically. While Deathblast is not as powerful as most wizard spells, a priestess with the Staff of Death still does more damage than most physical combat classes.

Late Game

In the late game, the Priestess becomes one of the most powerful classes in the game, becoming significantly more powerful than the wizard. The late game power of the class derives from rapid INT gain due to quick leveling and a large number of class-specific items. As a result, the Priestess attains the highest INT of any class in the game, and at a faster rate than any other, making the class the most proficient of any in terms of offensive spell combat. High INT allows highly equipped Priestess to defeat any enemy in the game using magic, whereas the comparatively low-INT wizard would struggle in landing hits against the most magic-resistant opponents. Besides Deathblast, Priestesses have access to other powerful spells including mass wither, deathcry, and life leech from class-specific items, as well as exploding aura and wind storm from class-generic items. All of these spells give the class a high degree of firepower and versatility. In addition, the quick leveling rate of Priestesses allow fast HP gain, and the high damage due to high INT allows a large degree of resistance against soul imps.

Notable Items