How good is Holy as a Domain?

[Koroto]

After playing the game for a while as a melee class, I wanted to pick up a magic caster as they seem more interesting, however I am stuck as I don't want to just be a lich wizard (Feels like the most basic combo). I saw that Priest gets the Holy domain and it has attacks tied to it now, so I am hoping someone who played as a holy caster can tell me how it is. Am I forced to be a support or can I also just smite people to death?

Also, some recommendations of Race would be nice as well.

[mtgninja]

There's a lot to unpack in this message, but I'll say one thing: all that domain a does is give you a higher chance of getting stocks of those type of spells when you dream, and their chance of appearing. Other spell types will definitely drop.

Also, there's nothing stopping you from dipping into spellcasting as a warrior. Every skill can be bought by any class.

[Shazza]

Holy as a domain mostly encompasses buffing, debuffing, and healing spells. Don't sleep on how powerful healing is.

But, their base magic capacity means they're good warmages. There are light offensive spells, but you'll find they're a lot rarer than fire/lightning/ice, and not a lot in the game is explicitly weak to holy more than the base three.

[Iyasenu]

While having Holy Domain does boost the effectiveness of healing/support spells, Priests don't really get support magic any more easily than the next class, since only attack spells can be learned from magic dreams. You can't escape the reliance on reading spellbooks to refill your stock of heals and buff spells.

Anyways, yeah there's smitey magic to be had from Holy Domain spells.
Holy gets Touch (Melee magic), Bolt (Linear piercing AoE), Intonation (enchant weapon/armor with element attack/defense), and Bit (summon).
And for anything that's resistant to Holy damage, there's also your Fire and Lightning domains, plus the extra domain you can get from one of their class feats.

The main thing for Priest is that their other feat that gives a boost to god worship bonuses means you should pick a god asap.

And, maybe ironically, being a Demigod with Eyth as your god is a nice combination.
Demigods have faster faith gains, and gain bonuses to all stats while "worshipping" Eyth.
But, they'll also suffer no divine retribution for switching faiths between gods, so you can pick and choose whoever you want and change your mind without much care.
Plus, they just have balanced overall stats.

Otherwise, Mifu would be good, if you did want to play more support-ish.
Nefu would also be a choice if you wanted to lean more towards pure-mage.
Elea are a bit lower on the str/end front, but they're good for magic, too.

And, finally Yerles are just your all-around fine choice.

[Koroto]

Originally posted by Iyasenu:

While having Holy Domain does boost the effectiveness of healing/support spells, Priests don't really get support magic any more easily than the next class, since only attack spells can be learned from magic dreams. You can't escape the reliance on reading spellbooks to refill your stock of heals and buff spells.

Anyways, yeah there's smitey magic to be had from Holy Domain spells.
Holy gets Touch (Melee magic), Bolt (Linear piercing AoE), Intonation (enchant weapon/armor with element attack/defense), and Bit (summon).
And for anything that's resistant to Holy damage, there's also your Fire and Lightning domains, plus the extra domain you can get from one of their class feats.

The main thing for Priest is that their other feat that gives a boost to god worship bonuses means you should pick a god asap.

And, maybe ironically, being a Demigod with Eyth as your god is a nice combination.
Demigods have faster faith gains, and gain bonuses to all stats while "worshipping" Eyth.
But, they'll also suffer no divine retribution for switching faiths between gods, so you can pick and choose whoever you want and change your mind without much care.
Plus, they just have balanced overall stats.

Otherwise, Mifu would be good, if you did want to play more support-ish.
Nefu would also be a choice if you wanted to lean more towards pure-mage.
Elea are a bit lower on the str/end front, but they're good for magic, too.

And, finally Yerles are just your all-around fine choice.

So I should look at the class's passive more than anything then? So any class could eventually learn magic to rival a high level mage?

[Iyasenu]

Originally posted by Koroto:

Originally posted by Iyasenu:

While having Holy Domain does boost the effectiveness of healing/support spells, Priests don't really get support magic any more easily than the next class, since only attack spells can be learned from magic dreams. You can't escape the reliance on reading spellbooks to refill your stock of heals and buff spells.

Anyways, yeah there's smitey magic to be had from Holy Domain spells.
Holy gets Touch (Melee magic), Bolt (Linear piercing AoE), Intonation (enchant weapon/armor with element attack/defense), and Bit (summon).
And for anything that's resistant to Holy damage, there's also your Fire and Lightning domains, plus the extra domain you can get from one of their class feats.

The main thing for Priest is that their other feat that gives a boost to god worship bonuses means you should pick a god asap.

And, maybe ironically, being a Demigod with Eyth as your god is a nice combination.
Demigods have faster faith gains, and gain bonuses to all stats while "worshipping" Eyth.
But, they'll also suffer no divine retribution for switching faiths between gods, so you can pick and choose whoever you want and change your mind without much care.
Plus, they just have balanced overall stats.

Otherwise, Mifu would be good, if you did want to play more support-ish.
Nefu would also be a choice if you wanted to lean more towards pure-mage.
Elea are a bit lower on the str/end front, but they're good for magic, too.

And, finally Yerles are just your all-around fine choice.

So I should look at the class's passive more than anything then? So any class could eventually learn magic to rival a high level mage?

Sure, that's a fine way to do things.
And, yeah I think anyone could do anything, they might just have to work a little more to get the same results if you compare between specialized and non-specialized choices.
Like, a class with low base stat growth for Magic could just work with a diet of food that boosts MAG Potency to help speed things along, or something like that.

[Ostrava of Boletaria]

demigod paladin of juere is especially good if you want to stick to the holy archetype. They get a lot of powerful healing and get a free full hp revive each day. They're equally effective in melee and magic, and if you're looking to maximize your tactical options I would recommend a hybrid playstyle rather than pure caster as there are more "battlemage" type abilities in this game over elona, such as intonations and talismans. Having insane healing ability on top of being tanky also sort of opens you up to a "commander" sort of role where you can focus more on your allies and healing/buffing them. Holy has some offense but it's not quite as good as other options for killing stuff. One of the best all-rounder setups that I know of. Only downside to this build is if you'd prefer another god over juere because the lay hand passive is way too good to pass up.

Personally I end up getting burnt out on hyper specialized builds when playing this game because I'll always get to a point where I'm way better at one thing than another thing and it feels like it's almost a waste of time to, for instance, train my ability to use melee on a pure caster. I've been enjoying hybrids more where it feels like I have more relevant progression.

Btw, you don't need to worry about domains a whole lot. All they do is make it more likely you find a particular domain of spell, and they can eventually be changed once you get a high enough level in the mages' guild.

[Axariel]

Holy domain is one of the better domains. It is fairly exclusive and many of the best spells are on the holy list. Even if you do not have a greater chance of finding its arguably best spells, the bonus you get to the massive amount of holy support spells and shatter hex (which apparently counts as an attack spell) are both good. That all being said, domains do not impact much.

If I was going to look at anything, it would be the race and class exclusive abilities and potentials. But for a lot of people who are remaking or second-guessing character choices, the far better advice would be to simply play the game because optimization matters less than the time you put in to playing. I guess you can look up broken combos, but I think they also detract from the experience that is simply playing the game.

[Fatespinner]

Additionally, each domain is associated with a different attribute, which can serve as a reference when building. (For example, I play a dual-wielding rogue and use poison spells as auxiliary damage.)

Strength: Cut
Endurance: Nether
Dexterity: Poison
Perception: Sound
Learning: Nerve
Will: Holy
Charisma: Mind
Magic: Others