Reincarnation planning

As God Powers provide very noticeable boosts, it is a good idea to plan a bit ahead with the reincarnations.
=== Cost planning ===
Faith powers increase in cost by factor of 2 for every level. The sum of costs is always 2^n - 1 (to reach level n-1).
Since faiths are used for 3 powers, your aim for coloured ankhs should be 2^x-1 + 2^y -1 + 2^z -1 where x, y and z are planned levels of the three powers. 
There recommendation for newbies to aim for 93 coloured ankhs in first run presumes the target level of all powers is 5. That, however, isn't necessarily the best plan, especially since the third use of all colours is Bliss, which requires ALL six colours - and by the time you're doing your 6th run, that extra level of Bliss may not be all that important (and you could also get a few missing points in any colour in a very quick run). 
I would recommend doing an overnight run on the first game, trying to get a bit more than 93. 127 + 63 + 15 for example, is aiming for 7, 6 and 4 instead of 5, 5 and 5, and the extra 2 and 1 levels will give a noticeable boost to runs 3-7).
=== Order planning ===
Since the 2nd power for all faiths is bi-color, it makes sense to do the reincarnations in the right order. 
The pairings are:
Horus and Coatli 
Dionysos and Shiva
(Odin and Batara are paired with black anks)
I would recommend starting with Horus/Coatli followed by Dio/Shiva for a few reasons:
1) Dio's primary power also needs black ankhs, which in the early runs you will most likely want to put as much into clairvoyance as possible
2) The combined power for Horus and Coatli is more useful even in shorter runs, while the power of Dio and Shiva (more culture) is more valuable in later and longer games (in early games where you will rely on artists for happiness, you'll be having plenty of culture anyway).
I don't have any strong opinion about the order within each pair. I only played from scratch once and went Horus -> Coatli -> Shiva -> Dio
Category:Guide