Shattered Kingdoms

For my priest: max mana, 3 art for staves and a bit of help with gate / scrolls.

You can't fail gate to stones, and gating to other PCs isn't going to happen unless you put art so high that you sacrifice your other attibutes.

The difference between a no-mana train priest and a max-mana train priest is the difference between a 20% gate and a 12% gate. If you have to gate twice on occasion, you still come out way ahead. And the added regen can be a lifesaver.

With the removal of charm from scrolls, I'd advocate only 3 art now also for priests. Some ME is also helpful as well, especially if you're not an elite Mira priest and if you have cabal spells you need to hold.

If you, as a priest, plan on healing, benedicting, and other such helpful spells, what is the purpose in making your spells harder to resist?

If you plan on brandishing OP staves and things like that, or if you have a renewable mana resource, why bother regaining mana you don't plan on spending?

Priest can be played more than one way.

My best advice for the "happy medium" is to avoid it altogether. Because so many parts of the game give exponential paybacks on investments, the "jack-of-all-stats" build is not nearly as good as you might think when compared to someone who has a specialty.

So, best advice is to go all out on something with no regrets and have fun enjoying whatever niche you are able to lay claim to as a result.

I always maxed mana on my priests, casting spells was more important than some of the other things. It's a matter of preference really.

Someone wants high dex to avoid dirt kick, someone wants uber mana pools.

What about necro? should I max art on my delf necro or 9 art is enough and how important is mana trains for deep elves, 18 wis is kinda low.

I personally wouldn't train more than 9 art on a necro, and the more mana you can get, the better.

Control undead saps mana like a mofo. Mana trains are a good idea.

EDIT: Deep-elves get 20 wis.