Spell: Telestic Animation

[DonCorazon]

Just curious if anyone uses this spell that summons a 2H statue. Its cheap and the 2H abilty might be useful to increase dominion or give your PD Sermon of Courage but even still, not sure its worth 5 astral gems.

[Frostmourne27]

Also, you have to have a lab in the province, and if your dominions gets fairly high, and you expand beyond the province, it becomes pretty useless. I, ofr one, never use it. Not that that says much, though.

[PvK]

In other words, it has interesting limitations which are logical for what it is. It's one of my favorites, personally, from a thematic perspective, and is sometimes pretty useful in specific situations, i.e. for reinforcing dominion in provinces that already have a lab for whatever reason, site searching, an alternative to using H2 priests which not everyone always has handy.

[llamabeast]

Is it any good for skelly-summoning for Ermor?

[Matryx]

I've had good use for is as EA R'lyeh holding back a coastline of blood sacrifices from Sauromatia. Since you'd have to build a fortress to get an immobile H2 as EA R'lyeh, the spell certainly has a use there.
Also - they have a headslot, with a spirit helmet they can add nicely to whatever defence is in the province.

[Folket]

I find them useful for MA Ermor. Or at least I used them in Dominions 2.

[Sombre]

It should probably be slightly discounted, but then again if it's got some way it can be abused, that can't happen.

Spirit helming one is a real waste of gems and time, but it is at least interesting and fun.

[Ewierl]

I find them a niche summon; rarely useful, but not never.

When on the offensive with some nations, it's quite possible to end up with mages but not priests. Telestic Animation converts from mage to priest, so you can slap a temple into that newly-conquered fortress that already has a lab. With that temple, you can then start recruiting actual priests if you need them.

Oh, it indeed requires a nation with no bless strategy, no priest-mages, and no priests worth recruiting into your armies normally... like I said, rarely useful. But it happens.

Still possibly overpriced, though.

[Jazzepi]

Sombre said:
It should probably be slightly discounted, but then again if it's got some way it can be abused, that can't happen.

Spirit helming one is a real waste of gems and time, but it is at least interesting and fun.



Yeah I really wish the cost on those helms was reduced. The effect is okay, but not worth the 20+ gems it costs right now.

I have heard of people using those statues to good effect for summoning undead with Ermor or some of the nations that get undead summons normally. I think LA Pangea might be able to use them to summon manakins, I'm not sure.

Jazzepi

[DonCorazon]

Shhh - no advice that helps LA Pangea please.
Cleveland - move along, nothing to see here.
http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

[Edratman]

I will use it on occasion, but only in coastal provinces adjacent to a water nation capital. Usually only when I'm playing Bandar Log with its weak priests and astral available. And maybe one or two coastal provinces away if the water nations domain is quite high. Other than that quite limited niche, it doesn't appear to have any real value that I can see.

[Saxon]

It can also be a quick defense against undead hordes, and the H2 is more powerful than your typical H1 preist. Also, if those hordes are backed by frighten or terror, the Sermon of Courage is handy. It can be used against MA Ermor, as well as by MA Ermor.

Like so many spells in the game, it has a place, but it is not for every nation and every game.

[Amhazair]

Jazzepi said:
I have heard of people using those statues to good effect for summoning undead with Ermor or some of the nations that get undead summons normally. I think LA Pangea might be able to use them to summon manakins, I'm not sure.

I don't think they will. Ermor and other undead nations can summon undead with all their priests, so yes, it'll work for them. Pangaea though needs undead priests to summone manikins, their regular priests can't.