A lot of people have a lot of questions on what is the best option for their home, life, practices, and lifestyle. Many factors go into acquiring or creating a new spiritual companion. This article will attempt to address those factors in a holistic way to help our valued friends, clients, and fans make the best choice for what they need.
Conjures and Preconjures
For this we are going to first start with Conjures and Preconjures in the comparison as these are the two “most like” so exploring the differences here will be helpful.
All of our preconjures come with a seal which can be used to amplify their power, increase their abilities, work with them more clearly, and otherwise act as an aid to their lives in day to day experiences. Preconjures have a major benefit in knowing exactly who you are bringing into your life, what kind of ally they are, their personality traits, powers, abilities, and things of that nature. Likewise preconjures tend to be a little more cost efficient per level of power, so they are a great value.
Custom Conjures, or often called just Conjures, differ in only a few ways. The first of these is the most important which is customization. While conjures are always a “best fit” to the request, unless the request is highly specific to the point of ludicrous levels of detail “must have one eye, with another that is that of a celstial” or things like that, we can generally accommodate. Requests like “strong willed, kind, skilled in this area” are all very viable, and many generalists (spirits who focus on general mysticism) are able to do a lot. Specialists, focused in a few small areas, are often more capable in those areas even beyond a power rating. We often list two power ratings, because one takes into account the efficiency in an area. Even when we don't do that, if a spirit is highly focused, you can bet it uses that power as if it was at least a level higher than we listed. That's the nature of specialists, generalists, and the like, and finding the best fit is where custom conjures shine.
Servitors
That's the end of the apples to apples comparison, as conjures and preconjures are effectively just different applications of the same spiritual methods to find a familiar spirit companion who can aid you in various ways, be it as a powerful ally, or a knowledgeable friend and advisor.
The next comparison that needs to be made is between our servitor types. It’s important to know the differences in our servitor types and what they are made to do. The first servitor type is the Convention Class Servitor. Conventional Class Servitors are, by nature, capable of some growth and thought. They aren’t “life, just not as we know it” but complex created beings. They lack the creativity of life, a subconscious, and a true internal willpower or internal thought process. Because of this, even our own CCS aren’t eligible for a Normal Soul Sword and would need to use Soul Force Armor and Weapons or achieve similar capabilities. CCS don’t “think” they simulate thought, and they don’t “live” they simulate life. They are still very personable, but they don’t have free will.
The TCS, or Transcendent Class Servitor as its name suggests transcends the concepts of life and servitor. Without getting into the specifics of our process, a TCS is effectively a greeted spirit. The TCS has a subconscious, a full energy body, chakras and other energy systems associated with life, they can feel, love, hate, grow, and change. For this reason TCS and the advancement of the ATS can not be made purely for intimate relationships, as such things require consent, and built in consent isn’t free will. They however are instilled with unfailing loyalty and love for their keeper, so if a relationship develops we don’t dissuade against that. As the TCS can think, improvise, and even have intuition it operates on a very different level from the CCS which can only approximate those things. The CCS can never have a “burst of inspired thought” and make something new, where the TCS could. The TCS should be treat more as a spirit who is created. The TCS and CCS are comparable in one major way despite these differences, and that is the level of power, they both have the same raw level of power available to them per level of working.
The ATS or Ascended Transcendent Servitor is our highest level servitor, and probably the highest level working we have in the shop currently. The ATS is on a whole other level of power than the TCS. A level 1 ATS has access to a physical anchor here which provides increased manifestation ability in our realm, and greater levels of power in the planar realms beyond ours. The physical world, our world, makes an amazing anchor, and is often why experienced practitioners can throw mountains in the astral the way we throw baseballs in this plane. Having access to this solid plane gives the ATS a powerful anchor. This massive increase in power is the first major difference between the TCS and the ATS. The second big difference is thanks to this physical anchor, during creation we are able to do more with an ATS. They can have memories, which will be integrated as “their previous life” through the essence rituals, allowing them to have the experiences of a template they are created based on. We can also directly connect them to the universal mystical knowledge available more directly, again thanks to the physical anchor. That all said, the ATS is still more an “upgrade” to the TCS than a fully different thing. They are both still created life, and that have will, consciousness, and even things like ethics and morality of their own based on the design.
All Servitors have a “disdain” for hurting humans, in general, but can be given orders to do so anyway. We’re not responsible for the long term ramifications of that. For the ATS and TCS this also means the potential to become resentful, despite the inbuilt loyalty, of being asked to cause harm if they are asked to repeatedly. This disdain does not extend to hurting someone to protect their keeper or themselves, they are more than glad to do that. Likewise, acts of justice generally are well received, but acts of vengeance would be heavily dependent on the mind of the servitor and what it was built to be.
The Diverse Comparison
This is where we get into the meat and potatoes of Servitors and Conjures. Servitors and Conjures are often more similar than they are different with the TCS and ATS being compared to other life. The CCS is less easy to compare, and its comparison will be less intensive because the differences make comparison less viable.
The CCS compared to spirits in general is often within the same price range, or cheaper, than a spirit per level of power. While a CCS can simulate personality, they can’t have deep thoughts, experience things like love in a real way, or have a soul as we think of it.
The TCS and ATS servitors however can be compared a bit more directly to spirits. The first big difference we are going to make note of is life experience. A conjure has anywhere from 50 years of experience on the lowest of the low end, to thousands of years or more on the high end. They are vastly old, often older than human understanding, and from that they have experience. Decisions they make come from those experiences. The TCS doesn’t have a real option for that, but the ATS can simulate that with the essence rituals. Still that experience comes free of charge for a conjured spirit, and from a cost to capability evaluation is a major benefit. Often a low level Conjured Familiar Spirit will have hundreds of years of experience. While the ATS can have essence and memories from outside sources culminating in an empowered ability even from a fictional source, and a TCS can have the memories of its template, the Conjured Spirit has real world experience with situations that may have been life or death.
In contrast the TCS and ATS come without any baggage you don’t ask to include. Where a conjure may have preferences, needs, wants, or even fears an ATS or TCS can be developed without those things. This is a double edged sword, as sometimes needs and wants lead to better connected experiences, and sometimes fear can help one avoid bad situations, in the same way that wants and needs can get in the way of a good working relationship. The TCS and ATS will both have needs, and develop new ones with time, just based on who they are, but there is a level of control available in that creation process that just isn’t possible with the conjuration process.
Conjures also come with unique skills, powers, and abilities we may be unable to predict. A fire elemental may have the ability to manifest emotional healing in a way we couldn’t have expected because they have learned a unique method of fire healing for burning away illness. A Fae may have a unique mutation that allows them to amplify their power around cold iron instead of it hindering them. All manner of possibilities exist, and that unpredictability has some value in it. Many times we don’t know what we need till it comes through, and our conjuration process focuses on HIGH RESONANCE first, meaning our conjures are often very easy to feel and interact with. This high resonance also means unique abilities a client didn’t know they’d want but are there and now a pleasant surprise can show up in the conjure. With any Servitor design, there are no surprises outside of things like attunements that can be done after (or sometimes during) creation.
Conjures using a spirit booster talisman blur the line in terms of power to ATS, but that’s an additional cost to be factored in. So a lot of what this then comes down to is a question of predictability vs experience.
One of the other comparisons often that gets made is one of price to power for the ATS and Conjures specifically. A Level 1 ATS is somewhere around a level 4 to 6 Spirit, making the initial purchase more costly than a spirit. If you are budget conscious on this, generally speaking, you could get several spirits for the same price to power comparison as a level 1 ATS. At level 3, things begin to favor the ATS by a narrow margin. After level 3, you are looking at purchasing things like the spirit booster talisman, or similar attunements. ATS can be upgraded thanks to the temporal anchor and talisman. This means that economically increasing their overall power over the course of time is a bit cheaper and easier.
Another factor in considering the cost to power comparison for those seeking the “most optimum solution through a spiritual companion” comes in the form of the Conjure Level being a “minimum conjure level” not a maximum one. This means a level 12 Conjure Service often provides a level 13 - 15 in power, with 12 begin the minimum acceptable level, and 13 being closer to the average. This skews the cost equation again in the spirit favor at levels of power below 18.
We’ve had a lot of people ask about why the scale on servitors and conjured familiars is so different, one of those reasons is the creation of a Level 1 ATS requires a lot of power, which then becomes available to that ATS by default. We’d have to list the base level, in approximation, to a level 5, and then do increments in sets of 5. This would become even more confusing for many/most clients, and would lead to the question of “why don’t you have levels between 5 and 10.” Ultimately, the two processes are so dissimilar that the power scale comparison we list is meant to make choosing between the two easier for the client, not as a direct 1 to 1 comparison, nor as a benchmark setter between the services.
One other factor to consider is offerings as well. While all forms of servitor can make use of offerings to help amplify their power with the physical energy, and may enjoy offerings because of the sent, taste, or other such factors in the energy itself, conjured familiar spirits get a great deal more out of this. Part of this is because for a conjured spirit, there is an innate ability to utilize offerings more efficiently as life that has already had to use energy exchange in this way from the moment it was born. It's a small difference in efficiency, maybe only a 5 or 10% difference in this respect, but for a practitioner using complex methods, or for someone who is more willing to spend time in ritual, doing sufficiently powerful rituals yourself could make that small difference a lot bigger in terms of its impact.
What is Best For Me?
A tremendous amount goes into this one single question, but the core answer is one of purpose. If you are seeking a magickal aid in the form of a companion, but your core focus is raw power, capability, and manifestation the ATS will be a favored go to. If however you are seeking a new ally with skills you may not have known you needed, considerable power, and a unique personality a Custom Conjure is by far a superior option. The TCS and ATS will grow in ways we can not predict, but both begin as you design them. Nothing more, nothing less.
The Questions to Ask and the Answers to Have
Are you seeking a companion, and interested to add to your keep in a way that you will be surprised, and maybe even find traits you never knew you wanted?
You want a Custom Conjure, every time. If you need more raw power, look into our Leader Conjures, Lieutenants, Captains, and Generals.
Are you seeking a specific, to the letter, companion that mimics an existing mythology, mythos, fiction, idea, or design?
You want a servitor, every time, no questions asked. If you want that companion to have life you want a CCS, TCS, or ATS depending on power requirements, design purpose, and budget limits. Do you need more hands on deck to solve problems?
Conjures are likely your best option as the cost to benefit at the lower levels is vastly considerable. With a level 1 Spirit Booster talisman, a level 12 is at or above the level of power of a Level 3 ATS, often at a much lower cost.
Do you want absolute, maximum, raw power and ability?
You want an ATS maxed out, or even possibly a custom order one with an even higher level of power. Being made WITH the power from the start gives a slight edge over the Spirit Booster Talisman amplified spirits, and with the options for essence and mystical knowledge being able to be built into the ATS, it’s going to be the heavy hitter of the heavy hitters.
Are you seeking an ability for yourself?
Then Familiar Spirits and Servitors may not be what you are looking for. Instead consider our Attunement or talisman Addon services for custom work or other spell work we have.
Are you looking to LEARN an ability yourself, not boost it?
I’d almost recommend Conjures over Servitors for this. The reason being is that Conjures had to learn what they do at some point, so will likely be better teachers. That said, a Custom Built Teaching ATS based on Merlin or another such great teacher with the Essence option would have vast access to both the mythological knowledge and whatever the real world Merlin knew. It’s a tossup with the Conjures offering a LOT more at the lower level of price and the ATS being more capable at the higher level.