What to do with astral gems?

[Norfleet]

Originally posted by Huzurdaddi:
really? I've always found that spell so wasteful! I mean 25 gems... yokies.

Yeah, but consider the cost of general probing: 16 assorted gems, plus you haven't searched holy/unholy.

Given that most nations do not HAVE assorted gems, they will probably have to alchemize, which drives up costs. Furthermore, no remote searches for holy and unholy sites exist.

Yes, AR is hardly efficient, especially on already well-searched provinces, but it's definitely a nice clean-sweep spell.

It may be wasteful, but it also bears mentioning that astral pearls are currently the most easily available gem type, via conVersion from the otherwise limited in utility water gems through clams.