by Nandrew on Sun Jun 17, 2012 7:31 pm
Flames is a kind of "hey, walk this way, pure casters" kind of boon. I think it makes sense that only full casters get full use from Mystera.
And if you want to actually hop into her religion and just strike quickly with Flames, that's a viable tactic too. It'll even allow you to prep Mystera, because you won't be relying on her gradual piety gain nearly as much.
If we assume you have the luxury:
- Conduct early game worship as you will, being sure to convert to a suitable piety farm at whatever time is appropriate.
- Carry your piety farmer as far as you sensibly can through the boss conflict. Murder as much popcorn as possible, focusing on Magic Attack enemies first.
- You have two options: if you want to get Flames, you can safely convert to Mystera at minimum piety threshold. If you'd like to grab Refreshment as well, try converting at max piety (though it usually helps to have Pactmaker on standby, too).
- Resume the bossfight with a focus on draining your physical resources first (basically health and raw damage, though keep some spare handy if you're going B2P). Non-fireball spells may be used at your discretion, though sapping too much mana this way is wasteful. I'd typically be satisfied with repeat castings of Might (if in assistance of lowering magic resist) or maybe a lone cast of First Strike (used as a last-ditch to "pop off" the burning stack at end of combat).
- At this stage, it's time to click on Flames. You'll have, at minimum, 25 piety, and it should be incredibly easy to pull off a desecration at this point. Literally the only gods who can ruin your shit are GG (as always), JJ (50%), and Dracul (though hardly). Treat yourself to an extra mana point, too. If the situation is favourable, pick up Refreshment as well.
- The only god who needs to be considered really carefully in this is the Earthmother, who would work best as a late-game conversion after a sustained period of Mystera worship.
Among the Vicious dungeons, this tactic is actually quite feasible in Demonic Library and Namtar's Lair. It's not as favourable in Dragon Isles (where physical still has an upper hand, despite Curses) or Naga City (though, uhh, that place is kinda special). It's also decent in a fair number of scenarios Hard and below, though for critical analysis I try to size it up against stress-test dungeons.