Abyss Ambulator
Posts: 1244
Joined: Thursday, 10th March 2011, 19:45
Spreading the Light
None of my attempts at playing priests have got very far, but I'll share my thoughts about Zin and see what other tips and ideas anyone else has.
From reading about his powers, it would seem as though Zin is a god mostly useful in the late game, but he seems to be eclipsed by TSO in that area. It is also relatively hard to gain piety in the early game because you generally don't have much gold and chaotic creatures are rare.
I'm wondering if starting as a priest is actually the best way to go about it, or should I start with a background that has more combat abilities and equipment then convert at the Temple. The quarterstaff seems like a dubious starting weapon, as relatively few races have good aptitude for staves, and the only good staff type weapons are lajatangs which are rare and also don't do that much damage for a 2-handed weapon, and elemental staves which require evocations and magic skills to use.
Maybe it would be better to start as a fighter/gladiator and worship Zin when I find the altar. On the other hand, I would then have to train invocations up from zero, which can be tricky given that the recite power is somewhat dubious in usefulness especially with zero skill.
Finally, there are the restrictive codes of conduct, particularly on eating sentient creatures which is harsher than the other good gods. I'm not sure how well this is offset by the sustenance ability, as none of my priest attempts survived long enough to be short of food.