Priestess

Priestess
Can Be Leader	Yes
Battle order	Healing (12th)
Unit traits	-
Tier	2
Type	Support
Movement	Heavy Infantry Slow Infantry
Reqs	20
Cost	1
Upgrade into units
Upgrade tier 1 units

The Priestess is a good generic (and relatively cheap) healer that will be the main healing support unit in squads throughout the early-mid chapters since it will take some time before they can reach the MAG requirement to upgrade into a Templar.

Stats

Stats		Base	Growth		Lvl 1	Lvl 54		From Tier1
		Low	Low		~94	~247		+10
		High	Low		30	68		-
		None	None		6	6		+15
		Low	Low		~6	~31		-
		Med	Grand		~32	~91		+10
		Low	Med		~11	~41		-
		Low	Low		~	~1032		+182

• The Priestess's weapon value is added to her overall healing power. Also of note here: while it looks amazing initially then appears to slide in power as the game goes on; the mechanics of Armor in this game aid it's power-scaling considerably.
  
  Restoring 50 HP to a unit who's armor only blocked 20 damage restores 70 effective HP;
  Were restoring 50 HP to a unit who blocked 90 damage each from five different 100 power hits will restore 500 effective HP.
  
  As such: the Priestess's heals would likely be serviceable throughout the entire game at a set value; and their scaling mostly serves to counter-act bigger squads delivering more hits to the same 3 front-line units.

Related Technologies

Tech:
	Martial Traditions	Gain Class Points 15% faster.
	Battle Medics	+20 HP
	Sisterhood of Mercy	Take 25% less damage when a Paladin, Valkyrie, Exemplar, or Titan is present in the same squad.
	Mage Regiments	Heavy Infantry Slow Infantry
	Mixed Unit Tactic	Gains +3 weapon power for each different archetype of unit added to the squad, starting from the second.

Battle Details

Battle Detials:
Round 1	Heal wounded, Healing (12th), at 1 range.
Round 2	Wait
Extra Attack	Heal wounded, Healing (12th), at 1 range.
Other Detials:
Healing: Enables Squad to heal allied units on the field at the expense of their core attack or shuffle action. This healing action can be performed 3 times, with each use allowing all healers in the squad their separate chance to heal (so a squad with 4 Priestesses can heal 4 times each time it uses one of these 3 actions). Suffers from Magic Fatigue during enemy phase

Strategy

Tactics

Using Heal out of combat (even on their own squad), can be a good way to make use of their squad's turn action whenever they're out of range of their opponents.

Heal can also be used when in range of an enemy squad, in instances were a front line with abilities like Guardian wants the enemy to make the first move. If a squad isn't capable of removing an enemy squad in 1 turn, it can be beneficial to let the enemy move first; then have full control over the decisive final battle in the player's hands. Of course: this does depend heavily on how many key threats a player can remove in the 1st volley of attacks, as a hostile squad that's largely crippled when enemy phase comes around may as well be dead.

Additionally: Heal can be used to activate Canter on any cavalry squad (light or heavy) that moved their maximum distance as their turn action; getting another 2 movement.

And finally: stopping by at a Temple will allow a squad to refresh it's reserve of filed healing actions, enabling any squad that's run dry of those 3 actions to restock (or a squad that's run dry of 2 heals and the timing works out). These temples can also revive fallen allies, which can be especially helpful if an otherwise durable squad lost their priestess due to bad luck.

Squads

Priestesses serve a key role in enabling any squad to reliably and consistently survive multiple combats without running out of steam, and are quite a useful addition to the vast majority of squads in the game. Which also doesn't leave a whole bunch of specific niches to explore with them: Priestesses are really helpful for every squad, even extending to player-phase only Ambush Squads or ranged-bombardment Archery squads.

All that said: the best position for Priestesses is usually the middle row ; given Rogues will turn the back row into an extremely dangerous place and otherwise hard-counter any priestesses positioned there.

Dead-center is usually the best spot for the Priestess; given their impressive Magic stat is really good at absorbing hits from magical explosions; and regardless of being the most Sub-Optimal hit for a squad to survive , or the most optimal , the middle position is always getting hit.

Priestess even work in an all-healer squad: leaning on their field heal action with multiple Priestesses (or a Priestess leading a squad of Medics) to serve as a mobile healing station, capable of getting 4+ heals for the 3 turns they can perform the action.

Such squads can also rely on Shuffle to gain some value, gaining a bit of an edge in pure-utility over a Hospitaller squad. And there are a lot of items that cater to that specific playstyle (at least with DLC); with options like Donari Staff, Do-It-Yourself Bandage, Donari Charm, and Warfarer's Boots.

For the pragmatic player: all-healer squads can also double as a sacrificial squad, were they can walk into range of an enemy squad that would otherwise obliterate, say, Lysander's very expensive cannon-squad. And then proceed to take the enemies' attention and eat the loss instead.

To this end: it's best to set up such squads in a single-file line; were enemy squads that all act on the same attack volley will use all their efforts on the foremost Priestess, and then their second entire volley on the middle Priestess or Medic; still leaving the squad standing for future uses. Often in spite of an enemy squad having enough damage potential to kill the Priestesses in their first volley if they were all positioned in the same row.

As Opponents:

Priestesses will automatically surrender if they're the last unit standing, so it's usually best to avoid committing war crimes against these non-combatants for the added gold and faction XP.

If a squad can reliably take down a rival squad in 1 turn, Priestess also add minimal resistance. Were they're a problem is on enemy squads that take multiple squads to deal with: greatly improving their longevity.

In such cases: bombarding a squad with Archery Units (or making use of them bypassing block and cover in 1 range with 2 attack volleys) tends to be the easiest way in dealing with them. Rogues are also a very reliable option when available, at least if the Priestesses are occupying the opponent's back row.

Builds

Traits

traits, the following traits can be considered:

• Pacifist, Unassuming, Arcane Vigor, and Arcane Barrier are useful traits to keep the Priestess alive. Healing output appears unaffected by the pacifist attack penalty, making the Priestess the best candidate for that particular trait as well.

• Beacon will guide some healing magic to the Priestess.

• Concentration is an effective way to boost healing potency by +15% with ~no real downside. Technically heals can critically strike, though doing so is much less useful than attacks; and the boost in power is a much larger upside in comparison. Medics also have the worst Skill of any Conscript unit and Priestesses don't have any class bonuses or especially good growths either, so critical heals usually aren't a thing. Granted: Militia have amazing base skill (and poor enough magic that crit heals matter) and can promote to Priestesses as well, so this trait heavily favors the most straightforward promotion option from the Medic.

• Imposing is also an interesting option for the express purpose of eating big magical hits for a squad, were the impressive magic score of Priestesses can make a lot of magic damage plink off of her. Ideally the Priestess would want to be in a corner of the squad rather than the dead-center here.

Artifacts

Donari Armor, Crystal Lance, St. Teresa's Bulwark, and Excalibur are all solid items to boost the Priestess.

All 4 boost Magic, and also boost the defenses of the entire squad: making Priestess's healing more potent, while also stretching their heals further.

Donari Staff is also noteworthy for boosting their healing in the field.

Do-It-Yourself Bandage makes field heals a free action, letting them heal 2 squads in the same turn (though this doesn't enable Canter unless they're in a cavalry squad).

Donari Charm boosts the number of heals on the field from 3 to 5.

Affinity

Water is the best affinity for supports; as the added HP is one of the easiest ways to increase their bulk and overall survivability, were the bonus to Magic strengthens their supportive actions.

Earth is also a solid fallback; as more HP can easily mean a living healer instead of a dead one. And all things considered; their base healing is often good enough without any special magical investment.

Gallery