FAQ confusion

[Gargoyle]

This is in the explanation for Gem use to cast spells in battle:

"If an Earth-2 mage wants to cast the Earth-3 spell Blade Wind, he can use an Earth gem from his gembox to boost his level to 3 for that one casting only. You may only use as many gems to "Boost" your level as base paths you have. So if your Earth 2 Mage wants to cast an Earth 4 Spell he can boost up 2 Levels of Earth with 2 Earth Gems, then cast the spell."

But also says...

"Up to 1 gem can be used for path requirements any other gems above 1 are only applied to increasing power for purposes of calculating fatigue."

So which is it?

Can you boost from a lvl 2 to a lvl 4 by using 2 gems?

Or can you only boost 1 lvl and use additional gems to reduce fatigue?

[Truper]

You can only boost one level, and use additional gems to reduce fatigue. Also, the total number of gems used may not exceed the mage's skill in the path. This becomes important for spells which take gems to cast. Consider the spell Summon Lesser Fire Elemental. It has a path requirement of 2 Fire, and a gem cost of 1. A level 1 Fire mage cannot cast the spell even if he has two gems, since the spell itself requires one, and a level one mage may only spend one gem at a time, meaning he cannot spend an extra gem to boost his skill. A level 2 fire mage can cast the spell for one gem, incurring the full fatigue of 100. If you give that mage 2 gems, he will use both, effectively raising his skill to 3, and he will therefore incur half the fatigue, or 50, and avoid becomming unconsious.

[PDF]

In your example the level-1 fire mage can eventually cast Summon Lesser Fire Elem but with 3 gems.
He should start by casting Phoenix Power (by using 1 gem to boost his level to 2), and then the Summon, again needing 1 boost and the gem for the spell (he can now spend a total of 2 gems as he has become level 2).
Not very useful for this spell, but for example it can be a deal to cast Fire Arrows this way in case of need...

[Gargoyle]

PDF said:
In your example the level-1 fire mage can eventually cast Summon Lesser Fire Elem but with 3 gems.
He should start by casting Phoenix Power (by using 1 gem to boost his level to 2), and then the Summon, again needing 1 boost and the gem for the spell (he can now spend a total of 2 gems as he has become level 2).
Not very useful for this spell, but for example it can be a deal to cast Fire Arrows this way in case of need...

So by using a gem, casting a spell that boosts, that makes him effective lvl 2. A lvl 2 can use 4 gems. He's used one. He uses 1 to boost and one to reduce fatigue in casting the Summon. He still could then use another gem in his next spell because he has only use 3 up to that point. Is that all correct?

SOMEONE SHOULD FIX THE FAQ, because it contradicts itself.

[Oversway]

It may be that you can only spend gems equal to your base power? Meaning spending a gem to raise your level doesn't raise how many gems you can use.

[Cainehill]

Problem is that, as Gargoyle says, in one section it explicitly states You may only use as many gems to "Boost" your level as base paths you have. So if your Earth 2 Mage wants to cast an Earth 4 Spell he can boost up 2 Levels of Earth with 2 Earth Gems, then cast the spell.

This is incorrect, because as he also quoted, Up to 1 gem can be used for path requirements any other gems above 1 are only applied to increasing power for purposes of calculating fatigue.

Only one gem boosts the casters level, ie you must be no more than one level less than the desired spell, but the first section says an earth mage could boost himself two levels. Yes, the FAQ should be fixed.